Against All Odds
by monkiimax
Summary: Robin and Dick had always been 2 different boys. As long as they are separate everything runs according to what is acceptable. But what happens when a double life begins to be too much? Hidden fears. Deep Secrets. Words not told but shown in scars and tears. Sometimes the ones that have their head raised, are the broken ones. Rating might go up to M. SLASH Dick/OC, later Dick/Wally
1. Prologe

_**So this is my first long-fic in a long time. I swear this one I will finish because I already have ready half of it. This is a kind of Robin/Dick Grayson centric on issues such as family, friends, feelings and relationships. I am sorry if sometimes I use some Ooc on Dick. So I hope you like it and reviews, favorites and followings are well received.**  
_

* * *

_Prologue_

The raindrops got mixed with my tears as I ran downtown. Around me the city was dead, the streets were empty, the stores were closed and there were no young people hanging out on a Friday night or old people coming from work. I was alone, as always. I tripped on something and landed in the middle of the street. I screamed in frustration but didn´t stood up. I couldn´t move or even breathe. After about 30 minutes of non-stop running my legs burned and my lungs felt as if they were about to explode. I felt lost and hopeless. The wind hit me in the back making me shiver and then the rain transformed into a storm.

Slowly, I stood up and leaned over a wall. I was shivering and I was so wt I thought I would end up with hypothermia. A lightening illuminated the sky and a thunder made me jump scared. I hated storms, I still do.

I sat on the sidewalk and closed my eyes not sure what to do. I couldn´t return, I was too ashamed but I didn´t have anywhere to go. I hugged myself and hid my face between my knees. With my thump I caressed one large cut in my wrist that was still bleeding. I closed my eyes trying to let out more tears. I wanted to keep crying but I had no tears left. I only had left my sorrow and my confusion.

Suddenly I heard a car stop near me. I looked up but then a grin appeared in my face. I hold my wrist whit my right hand and hid it the best I could. I knew the car and the worst part was that I knew person that was driving the car. He got out of the car with an umbrella and approached me. I stared at him but didn´t move, not even when he offered me his hand and opened the copilot´s door.

"Are you coming?" he asked me with his usual cold voice.

I bit my lip and shook my head. I heard him sight frustration and then his arms surrounded me with violence. He lifted me up with no problem and he threw me into the car. For the first time I didn´t scream or fought back. I just kept silent. He closed the door behind me and I heard the click of the lock, then he got into the car.

I waited to hear the car go on but he didn´t even have the keys in his hand. I saw him rub his eyes and I read how tired he was, how disappointed. He looked at me with a concerned grin.

"What is wrong with you?" he screamed at me. For the second time in that night I didn´t answer.

* * *

_**So this is something that will come in the future. From chapter one I will explain all the events that lead to this scene but it is not the end. **_


	2. About to turn 15

**_First chapter finally up! Hope you like it!_**

* * *

_Chapter 1_

The young sidekick woke up before the alarm sounded. He opened his blue eyes slowly and stared at the electric clock. _5:45. _It was still dark outside but Alfred was probably in the kitchen making him and Bruce breakfast. The young kid smiled and then sat up trying to fight the urge of returning to the land of dreams.

He glanced at the calendar that was hanging on his wall and smiled pleased. Only 3 weeks and he would turn 16. Not that he loved birthdays but this time he was excited because Bruce had given him permission to spend that day with all his friends at the mountain. He giggled as he remembered Megan´s and Wally´s face when he told them; it had been priceless. Now he was sure they were planning some amazing and over the top birthday party but he couldn´t complain. For the first time he was going to have a normal _teenage _birthday party.

He got ready for school and ate breakfast while he watched Gotham´s news. It was the same thing as always, bad guys doing bad things and Robin and Batman saving the day; or the night most of the night. Dick smiled when a picture of him jumping from the roof of a building to the window of the next one on the screen. Then something hit him, the card. He frowned as he leaned over the chair as he remembered that item. At first he had thought it was another Joker´s card but that one was different; and so was the _modem operandi_ of the crime he and Batman had witnessed.

First of all the Joker loved to meet him and Batman face to face to have one of his annoying monologues about his scars. Also, there were no death "_clowns sidekicks" _laying on the floor. And the last thing that Dick had found odd was the card. It was an A´s of hearts, maybe from the same deck the joker used but it wasn´t the normal card.

_What if it is just some imitator? Not because is the same deck it means it has to connect to the Joker. I am just joining pieces that have nothing in common to make them fit in my theory. But, what if I am wrong? Would it mean I was right at the begging? Is this some of Joker´s twisted mind games or…_

He sighed defeated knowing that if he kept thinking about it he would end up with a headache. He stood up from his seat and felt dizzy. He closed his eyes and felt how the world was spinning around him. That wasn´t a good sign. He took some deep breathes and tried to calm himself. He always got dizzy whenever he felt something bad was happening or was about to happen. It wasn´t something rational, but he had sort of a sixth sense and he could feel these _bad _things. The problem was that they always took him by surprise. The death of his parents, the first time the Penguin kidnapped and tortured him. In all those cases he had felt this dizziness.

Slowly he opened his eyes and tried to think it was just his imagination. It had to be but still, he would keep his eyes open. Alfred entered to the dining room and announced him that the car was ready to take him to school. Dick nodded and took his bag from one of the chairs. He screamed goodbye to Alfred and waved Bruce that was staring at the street from his window. The billionaire smiled at him and waved him goodbye. Dick felt how the dizziness was starting to fade away as he saw Bruce smiling at him. He knew that no matter what he had Bruce to protect him.

* * *

When the new kid entered to his advanced algebra class, Dick couldn´t help to analyze him. It was something completely involuntary that Batman had thought him in his first years as his sidekick. Search for anything off the place or dangerous. But instead of that he found the kid quite, good looking.

"Hello students. This is Mark Goulding and he just moved here from Texas." announced the director as he pointed out the guy standing next to him.

Mark was maybe the tallest guy in that room but something about attitude made him appear even bigger. He had long black hair, pale skin and eyes almost as dark as his hair. He was wearing a Superman´s jacket which Dick found kind of hilarious. He always found funny whenever he saw his classmates with any fan items of superheroes. He was staring at the whole classroom with serious eyes and corporal language that screamed apprehension and mistrust. Suddenly Mark´s eyes landed over Dick. The younger one held his gaze trying to appear indifferent but when the other one winked at him he felt himself blush.

_What the hell is wrong with me? _He screamed in his mind as he looked down at his notebook.

There was something about the new kid that he found interesting, almost magnetizing. At first sight he had thought it was just another senior but now, he wasn´t so sure.

_Keep your head cold. Come on Dick, you are not like this. _

He peeked toward the new student and he found Mark still looking at him. He had a goofy smile on his face, like if he was laughing at Dick.

"So Mrs. Laila, I don´t want to keep interrupting your class. Please Mark, take a seat next to…" the director looked around the room looking for an empty place. Dick tried to hid his blushed face with his hair knowing the only empty chair was the one next to him. "Mr. Grayson!"

_Perfect._

The guy thanked the director and sat next to the younger one. When he sat he kept on looking directly at Dick making him uncomfortable. Now that Mark was closer he wanted to verify if Mark was as good looking as he had thought at the beginning.

"So what is _Mr. Grayson_´s first name?" asked Mark after some seconds of uncomfortable silence.

"Richard." Dick tried to sound cool but he still felt nervous. Mark´s eyes were so deep and fierce they looked like if they were trying to read him.

"That is too serious." Mark leaned closer to him. Dick turned to see him and tried his best to avoid blushing. Damn he was good looking. "Don´t you have any nickname? How do your friends call you?"

Dick sighed as Wally´s image appeared in his head. Of course he had a nickname, Wally had given it to him years ago and only he and Barbara used it. Bruce would use it sometimes but that was it. Almost nobody else knew about it. Dick wondered if it was correct to tell him. Obviously it was something special between his closest friends and he barely knew Mark.

"Dick." his lips moved by his own. Mark smiled pleased and then he took Dick´s hand to shook it.

"Nice to meet you Dick." The younger one nodded. "But, aren´t you too young to be in a senior math class?"

* * *

Dick entered to the car and wasn´t surprised to see Alfred sitting next to him.

"How was your day Mr. Grayson?" he asked with his usual formal voice. Dick smiled at him and answered with a simple "good". He is not used to talk about anything with anyone. Having a double life has made him like that, closed to other people. He is even closed to talk about stuff with Wally sometimes and that is to say something.

"Mr. Bruce is waiting for us at the mansion." said Alfred. The driver got the indirect and turned on the car.

Suddenly Dick heard something from the outside. It sounded like a scream. He raised his eyes toward the window and then he saw him.

"Oh God." he sighed. Moments later Mark was standing next to his door with half of his head inside the vehicle.

"Lucky I found you." he said almost screaming. "Oh, hi there." he added as he caught Alfred staring at him surprised.

"Mr. Grayson, do you know this young man?" the older man asked. Dick nodded slowly as he tried to control the blush on his cheeks.

"What do you need Mark?"

"I wanted to ask you if the tutoring classes were still up. You know, I need to stau in the same level."

Dick was shocked. He had completely forgotten about Mark asking him tutoring after class.

_That happens when you pay attention in his eyes than his mouth, dork. _Said his inner side. Dick blushed even more as he noticed how close Mark was standing. He could literally feel the other one´s breath on his neck.

"So, what do you say?"

"Of c-course." he couldn´t believe he was stuttering. Mark smiled and then gave him a friendly punch on his shoulder.

"Amazing bro. See you tomorrow at lunch then." after that he ran away as he waved his hand toward Dick who couldn´t help to watch the boy as he left.

"So who was that guy Mr. Grayson?" Dick had totally forgotten Alfred was there. "Someone special?"

Dick just blushed once more cursing himself for being so obvious.

* * *

_**It´s kind of short but I the next chapters will be better. Please review and tell me your opinions :D**_


	3. The Card

**_Second chapter ! Hope you like it!_**

* * *

Robin entered to the building as silent as a shadow. He looked around trying to find his mentor but sighed in frustration when he found nothing but old and broken machines and lots of dust.

_Of course, lets separate, maybe we will finally get him. _The teenager repeated his mentor´s order in his head with a mocking tone. Of course he wanted to go separately; he wanted to catch The Joker on his own. So Batman.

"Like if I wasn´t good enough." he mumbled angrily. "Like if I was still that 10 year old boy that had to be saved every five minutes."

A rat ran just in front of him. Someone was near and had just arrived. Robin took one of his smoke bombs and stood quiet and immobile; he had to keep all his senses ready to catch anything that could tell him where the person or the thing was. Outside he could listen to the night life; cars passing by, some sirens far away and at some point he heard a dog´s bark. The memory of his morning sickness made him shiver. Was that the premonition he had earlier? Was something bad going to happen soon?

"Come on." he hissed impatient. How long had he been waiting for something, anything, to appear? After some more seconds his wish came true.

"Hello young bird." he heard a voice coming from a window behind him. The young hero turned around and stared at the shadow. "I was waiting for you."

The shadow jumped from the window and Robin was able to really see the villain.

He was way taller than Robin and he seemed stronger. Half of his face was hidden with a white mask and in the other half he was wearing white make up with a rhombus next to his eye. He was wearing waistcoat of the same color of Joker´s tuxedo but what the young hero found interesting was that he was wearing jeans and army boots. It seemed like if his outfit was _incomplete. _

"Who are you?" asked Robin still with the bomb in his hand.

"You already know me." the villain threw one an A´s of hearts card in front of Robin. "Not personally but you know how I am."

"The Joker´s new sidekick." whispered Robin, he wasn´t asking, he was sure that was the same card that stood on his nightstand.

"You are clever, bird boy." mocked the villain.

Robin groaned as he watched the other one walk closer to him. He had to call Batman. He had to tell him he was with the responsible of the crimes but something inside him stopped him. He didn´t needed Batman. He could take care of the sidekick on his own. He was almost 15 and he had spent almost 5 years training for moments like this.

"What are you thinking about?" asked the guy trying to sound nice. Robin wondered if he was as twisted as The Joker.

"I wonder why you are still alive. The Joker doesn´t like keeping his helping clowns for more than 48 hours."

The other one giggled. "I am not like the rest. Just like you, I am special." He paused for a second trying to give some dramatically to the scene. "I am training to become a real villain."

"And you are taking advice from the crazy clown?" this time it was Robin´s turn to mock the other one. Robin analyzed the villain and noticed that the other one was still young, he couldn´t be much older than Roy.

"You have not been able to catch him in all these years. Haven´t you?"

Robin bit his lip and the other one laughed noisily. "You are just a cutie thing."

"What do you want?" asked Robin annoyed and tired of that cheap charade.

"Right now, I just want to give you and your mentor a message."

Robin didn´t moved but he was ready jump and attack the moment the other gave another step. The guy extended his right arm and a rope appeared catching Robin and immobilizing him. Another quick movement and Robin fell to the ground. He was breathless of the impact of his back against the hard floor but he had no time to try to stand up. Another pull and robin felt himself dragged toward the villain. The rope held his feet and arms tied against his torso so the only part of his body that he could move was his head. Quickly he looked up and found the other one staring at him with a smile on his painted face.

"Tell your mentor." he put one foot over Robin´s chest and started pushing. "That The Card is going to stay here for a while. And that he is here to pay him with the same coin he gave me years ago."

A quick kick on the stomach made Robin groaned in pain.

"Tell him that I am going to hurt him just the way he did." The Card took Robin by the neck and made him stand up. "And I will have no mercy on the ones he loves; starting with his lovely birdy."

Robin tried to hit the other one but he couldn´t. The card tighten his grip and Robin started choking. "Hurting him the way no villain have torture him before." The Card leaned over the young hero and whispered in his ear. "From the inside."

The Card let him go and left him laying on the floor. He was shaking but wasn´t sure why. He was used to this, he was used to be threaten and to be tortured by villains but this one was different. The Card smiled at him and then gave him a last kick on the stomach.

"I will see you soon." after that, he was gone.

* * *

_**I know it is REALLY short but next time it will be longer and hopefully better. I will update as soon as I can (maybe before Friday).**_

_**Please leave your revies and comments. Alerts and favorites always make my day. **_


	4. The letter

**_Sorry for the delay but I am going to try to update faster now that winter vacations are about to start. Remember that Favs, Follows and Reviews make my day!_**

* * *

_Chapter 3_

Robin entered to the mountain feeling uneasy and strangely worried. No one was around the main room which didn´t surprised him at all. Superboy and Miss Martian were probably on a corny date outside the building; Kaldur was on a mission with Aquaman and he wouldn´t around for another 2 weeks and Wally and Artemis were still at their hometowns with their respective mentors.

The teenager went to his room and changed to normal clothing and then returned to the living room not sure what to do for the rest of the evening. He had missed school and surprisingly Batman had been okay to let him spend a school afternoon on the mountain. That had been odd.

Robin turned on the TV and put in on Gotham´s news. The first image that appeared was a bad quality photo of the Card running down street. The reporter was telling the events that occurred the night before and some useless clues that Robin already knew. His eyes left the screen and with his left hand he pulled the sleeve of his jacket up and stared at the burn marks on his arm.

He thought about The Card´s words and he felt a shiver run up his back. What did he mean by hurting him like no one had ever done before? Through all these years he had gone through a lot, some bad things and some really horrifying things. What could possibly be worst than watching your parents die in front of your eyes?

_Nothing_

He sighed and then turned towards the TV again. The news was still there but the words they said seemed distant and worthless. He changed the channel but news, from Star city, started announcing about an incident at Gotham city. Suddenly on the screen appeared different Card´s picture. In that one he was smiling at the camera.

"Why the universe does enjoy conspiring against me?" he half screamed in frustration as he changed the channel to a show about cooking. He groaned again and kept changing channels, most of them showed the news and most of them were talking about the Joker´s new sidekick.

"You make it pretty easy."

Robin turned around surprised to hear his best friend´s voice behind him.

"What´s up Kid Mouth?"

The 17 year old boy sat next to Robin and took the remote from the other´s hand.

"With me, nothing." said Kid Flash as he peeked at the screen and then turned the volume lower. "The one that is all over the news is you."

Robin wanted to laugh at the situation, just the way Kid Flash always did to give the problems less seriousness but the only thing that left his lips was a weird snigger.

"What is up with that freak?" asked Wally as he grinned at the photograph that was being exhibited on the screen.

"He is here to have his revenge for something Batman did some time ago."

"Nice." Kid Flash tried to joke but it didn´t work. "But are you sure he is at Gotham only because of Batman?"

"That is what he told me last night." whispered Robin and then he glanced at his friend which was biting his lower lip, like if he was trying to prevent himself from saying something. "What?"

"Well, that is not what he said when the media read the letter he send them this morning." he burst out but immediately he covered his mouth with his hands. Like if what he had just said was a kind of a secret.

"What letter? What are you talking about?" Robin sat up straight and glared at his friend trying to imitate the bat-glare, bad thing he had his sunglasses on.

"It is nothing. Forget I even said anything." the other one stood up in a jump and tried to walk away towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry? I am starving."

"Don´t change the subject and tell me what the letter said!" Robin also stood up and followed his friend.

"It´s unimportant."

"No, it is not. Come on! Spit it out!"

"Robin!" Kid Flash shouted and Robin understood he wasn´t going to get any information from his friend.

The young bird frowned as he thought how to get the information and when the idea arrive he couldn´t help to smile.

"Never mind," he said and then turned around. "I can find that out by myself."

He ran towards the main computer. If he could hack the Justice League secret files, entering to the main computer of a simple TV station would be piece of cake. He was about to start decoding some when he felt Kid Flash tackling him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" screamed Robin as he tried to stand up. Kid Flash, quickly, took his wrist and hold them on top of his head and with his legs he immobilized Robin´s lower body.

"You can´t do that!"

"Why?!"

"Because Batman told us not to." the older one finally burst out the truth.

Suddenly Robin stop wrestling and just stared at Kid Flash not sure what to think. Batman was trying to prevent him to know about the letter? Why? He had not even mentioned Batman about the Card´s threat.

"Have you read it?" Robin asked more calmly. Kid Flash shook his head. "So you don´t know how important it could be! You said it, it talks about me."

"I don´t know that, I just assumed that if Batman doesn´t want you to read it, maybe it has something that could affect you."

"Come on, you are my best friend and you owe." he hissed. "I have help you get away from so many pranks from your uncle you can´t even count them."

"But Batman terrifies me."

"You are such a girl." mocked Robin.

The two boys stood in silence for some minutes. Kid Flash on top of Robin, Robin too into his thoughts to keep fighting.

"This is awkward." commented Kid Flash. Robin nodded in agreement.

"Then let me go."

"With one condition." Robin glared at the other sidekick but stood quiet. "You have to promise me you will not read the letter unless Batman allows it."

Robin groaned angrily. He hated to be threaded like a little child but it seemed no one got that. Not even his best friends. He could take care of himself. He could manage anything and for sure, he didn´t needed to ask permission for everything.

"All right." he sighed defeated. Kid Flash nodded and then stood up and let go Robin. The other one sat down on the floor and closed his eyes trying to fight the urge to go to the computer and read the letter.

_You could, if you wanted to. _

He heard his inner thing talk inside his head.

"I can´t" he answered in a whisper.

_Because you are a kid who stills needs to ask for permission? What a hero. _

"Robin?" Kid Flash called him from the kitchen. "Is everything okay down there?"

Robin looked up and then stood up slowly. Kid Flash was taking the whole fridge out in order to make one his famous and disgusting sandwiched. Robin sat on the bar and started playing with an apple.

"Is something wrong?" asked Kid Flash with concern. Robin faked a smile.

"It seems that my best friend is a coward."

He wasn´t upset because of that. For God´s sake, he couldn´t be mad at Kid Mouth for more than an hour. He was annoyed by the fact that Batman was keeping things away from him and he was worried of the content of the letter. Kid Flash had mentioned it wasn´t completely directed to Batman so it meant it said something about him. Maybe it was another threat.

"It´s not my fault your mentor is a freak." complained Kid Flash.

"I know, I know." Robin nodded again and then left the apple where he had took it in first place. Suddenly a hand appeared on top of his. The younger one looked up and found Kid Flash´s face inches away from his. Robin couldn´t help to blush.

"You don´t have to worry about it." Robin looked down but Kid Flash took him by the chin and made him look up. "Batman knows what he is doing. Maybe, it is the best for you to stay away from this for a while."

"I know, I know." he repeated, not sure how convincing he sounded.

"There is something more, isn´t it?" asked Kid Flash softly. Robin nodded slowly.

"I will tell you." he looked away and frowned. "As soon as I read the letter."

* * *

_**I hope you like it and please, tell me what you think about it. :3**_


	5. Distrust

_**Let me guess what you are thinking. Finally the lazy girl decided to upload a new chapter. I know you might be disappointed for the delay but I have a good excuse. This December I worked my ass on my new job and I had no time. But I will try to get better. Sorry for grammar and spelling errors, this is unbeta (If someone wants to volunteer I will really appreciate it).**_

_**As always, reviews, favs and follows make my day :D**_

* * *

Chapter 4

Dick sat alone on a table outside the auditorium. He looked around and sighed as he saw his best friend Barbara talking to her new boyfriend. She peeked over him and then her smile went wider. Dick knew how Barbara felt about that new kid and he was happy as long as she was happy.

She looked away towards the boy and they kept talking. Dick, on the other side, lost his smile and his grin became serious again. With his phone between his hands he couldn´t stop thinking about the letter. He could easily find it at any page. He didn´t even needed to use one of his hacker programs. It was there, so close but at the same time it felt so out of his reach.

_Damn you Batman_

"Dick!" Mark shouted as he jumped from behind him towards the seat next to him. Dick didn´t even flinch. "I was kind of worried for you."

"Why is that?" Dick put his phone on his pocket and then looked toward Mark with a small smile on his lips.

"You didn´t showed up for my math class yesterday." Dick cursed himself inside his head for forgetting about it. But then he realized he had a good excuse of forgetting about it. "I was kind of worried you didn´t want me around."

Dick shook his head. "I was feeling sick, that was all."

Mark smiled at him and then he put his hand on Dick´s shoulder making the younger one shiver. For a weird reason Dick couldn´t stop staring at the other´s black eyes. They seemed deep and warm, like if they were able to show one thousand emotions without having to use the rest of the face. His eyes lowered to his perfect nose and then they landed on his thin lips. Dick felt his heart start to beat faster as he imagined himself kissing those lips. He imagined Mark´s big arms surrounding him and the way he would be able to lift him in order to give him more access to his mouth.

Suddenly those were not Mark´s arms and Mark´s lips. In one second Mark wasn´t black haired, he was ginger and smaller and thinner. Suddenly it was Wally whom was carrying and kissing him.

"Are you sure you are feeling better? You cheeks are all red and your forehead is a little bit warmer than usual." Mark said as he leaned over Dick and put his hand on his forehead.

Dick held his breath. Having Mark so close, with one hand on his shoulder and the other on his forehead, it was driving the sophomore crazy. Why the hell was he had been thinking about kissing Mark? And most important… Why the hell he changed that fantasy to replace Mark with Wally? It was irrational, it was ridiculous, it was…

"Dick? Is there something wrong?"

Dick shook his head again.

"I am just distracted."

"Let me guess; problems at home?" Dick wanted to say no. He wanted to say he was worried about some late paper. He wanted to say he was worried about his dog being at the vet because he had eaten half of the sofa. But the moment his eyes were locked at Mark´s he wasn´t able to lie.

"Kind of." He started playing with his hand nervously. He peeked at Barbara and noticed she was already gone. "It´s complicated and I am sure you have better things to do than listen to my problems." No one ever listen to his problem. He wouldn´t even pay attention to his personal problems; most of the time his mind was too busy figuring out Robin´s problems.

"Come on, I want to know you better."

"Why? Why would you want to listen? Don´t you have your problems to worry about?"

"I am asking because that is what friends do, little guy."

Dick bit his lip and looked away.

"Nobody wants to be the circus freak´s friend." whispered Dick as he peeked over the rest of his classmates that were playing soccer on the field. The boys were playing and laughing while the girls cheered them from outside the field.

"Well, I want. So tell me, what is going through that mind of yours."

Dick smiled at the ground but didn´t answered. Mark carefully, took Dick´s chin and made him look up.

"Please?" the older one made a puppy face that made Dick laugh.

"All right, you win." Dick thought about it for a moment. He had to be as clear as possible to let Marl understand something but he also had to be careful to hide his secret identity.

"It is about my tutor, Bruce. He keeps treating me like if I was a 10 year old boy and it is kind of driving me crazy. I mean, I know he thinks he is doing the best for me but I want him to realize that I need to make my own mistakes to learn how to be better."

"But he never listens." they said at the same time making Dick stop and stare at Mark that now was looking toward the football game. His eyes were half closed and suddenly he appeared older. The goofy smile and the warm eyes were gone.

"I know what is like." he said after some seconds of uncomfortable silence.

_I doubt it. _Dick thought but didn´t say anything.

"But I have to add that it might be your fault too."

Dick raised one eyebrow confused. "Sorry?"

Mark´s face suddenly changed back and then smiled at Dick.

"Look at you. You are the perfect guy; you always do exactly what people tell you what to do and you always do it perfectly and without any argue."

"So what?"

"If you don´t stand out for yourself you are never going to get your way."

Dick frowned but again didn´t say anything. Mark gave him another reassuring smile and then he messed up his black hair. Dick pulled away from the touch.

"Don´t be always so damn perfect." said Mark to Dick´s ear before standing up and leaving the 14 year old boy alone.

* * *

"Bruce?"

The millionaire was preparing himself for another party at a fancy hotel. His suit was perfect as always and was wearing his newest and his most expensive cologne. Dick was on the living room surrounded by his text books and notebooks was he layed on the couch with one cup of tea on his hand.

"What do you need Dick?" asked Bruce without looking at the teenager.

"I wanted to ask you about something that Barbara told me today at school." he decided to play dump. It was always the easiest way when it came to Bruce. Let him think he had all the power.

"Dick, go straight to the point. I have the car outside waiting for me." mumbled Bruce. He sounded a little bit irritated.

"She told me that after 7:00pm all the news lost signal for about 20 minutes after announcing they had a new clue about "The Card"." Dick peeked at Bruce waiting to see any reaction; surprise, guiltiness, proud. Nothing.

"Gotham´s satellite signal is malfunctioning." he answered simply.

Dick stood up and left the tea on the floor. He reached Bruce and leaned on the wall next to the mirror where Bruce was arranging himself.

"If you had anything to do with it, would you tell me?"

Bruce looked at Dick with his usual serious grin. Dick hold his gaze trying not to look too defiant.

"Of course."

"Bruce…" Dick tried again but this time he tried to sound surer, more secure. "Do you really trust me?"

Outside a car´s horn shouted to call Bruce attention. The superhero sighed and then gave Dick a last look. "Don´t go to bed too late, tomorrow you have school."

"You know I am not a kid anymore? Hissed Dick but Bruce didn´t heard him. He was already getting on the car.

Slowly, he let himself fall to the ground as he hugged himself in an attempt to control the anger that was staring to rise on his chest.

_He doesn´t trust me. He thinks I am still the stupid kid he met 5 years ago at the circus. _

"Well." he whispered to himself as he stared at the empty street. "Not anymore."

* * *

_**I hope you like it and please, tell me what you think about it. :3**_


	6. Runaways

_**Sorry for grammar and spelling errors, this is unbeta (If someone wants to volunteer I will really appreciate it).**_

_**As always, reviews, favs and follows make my day :D**_

* * *

Chapter 5

Mark was waiting for me at the parking lot with his motorcycle already on. He was wearing tight jeans, army boots and a leather jacket. And next to him was the enormous black motorcycle screaming at me to get on and ride it. I had my own at the manor but Bruce never let me use it as Richard. I only used it for missions and patrolling.

"Ready for a little bit of adventure?" asked Mark as he handed Dick a helmet.

Dick stared at it for a moment and then peeked over the school´s building. Barbara was staring at him from a classroom window with worried eyes. Dick smiled at her and then showed her his thumps up in a last attempt to relax his friend. The girl frowned and then pointed towards Mark. Dick knew the girl didn´t like Mark. Last night they had spent almost an hour talking about some stuff the girl had found about the boy from the records from his last school. In those, it said that Mark was a bad influence. Period. He was a bad boy who couldn´t stand authority and had done almost the impossible to get expelled from his last school.

But that hadn´t bothered Dick at all. For a weird reason it made him even more appealing. So the moment he received the text that morning to skip school with him he had accepter without even giving it a second thought.

"But if you want to stay and be the same good boy as always there is no problem with me." Mark´s voice whispering on his ear gave Dick shivers but a smile appeared on his face.

"You already know you don´t have to ask me twice."

Dick climbed to the motorcycle and then put the helmet on.

Mark climbed to the motorcycle and then turned it on trying to make it sound as loud as he could. Dick tried to play impressed but reality was that he knew Mark was buffing around. He placed his hands on the back of the seat instead of surrounding Mark with his arms and then he gave the older one a silly smile the moment the other gave him a puzzled look.

"It is safer if you hold to me." said Mark but Dick just shook his head. "As you wish pretty boy."

Dick blushed at the last comment. No one, absolutely no one had ever told him something like that. He was grateful the helmet was able to cover his face.

* * *

Dick spend the whole morning showing Mark his top 20 places of Gotham. They had breakfast on a small restaurant Dick had found on one of his patrolling after it had been robbed. Then he showed Mark the best places to buy clothes, books and comic books. They spend hours at the arcade playing all the games it had and after that they spend the rest of the time wondering around down town.

Now, sitting under a tree at Gotham´s park, waiting for Mark to return, Dick wondered what Bruce would do to him if he ever found out about him skipping school. He glanced at the sky and then smiled at it.

_Fuck it. If he doesn´t want to tell me everything that concerns me; why shouldn´t I do the same?_

Mark sat next to him and offered him a chocolate ice-cream. Dick took it and then he let himself fall to the cool grass.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Mark between giggles.

Dick put his new sunglasses on and licked his ice-cream with a half smile on his face.

"Stare at the clouds." he stated. Mark rolled his eyes and then he followed Dick.

"And what are you doing?" asked Dick the moment he noticed Mark´s eyes on him.

"Stare at you cutie face." Dick blushed and looked away.

For about 20 minutes Mark told Dick almost everything about him. He told him about his mother, who was now at Texas with her new boyfriend. He told him that his father had just appeared a month ago and that was why he had moved to Gotham at the middle of the semester. He also told him about his dreams of becoming a screen writer and about his hamster "Toto". Everything that could be relevant or irrelevant he told Dick about it and was not afraid to even admit he had 4 tattoos (one of them in his boot) and he had tried weed once in his home town.

"Now tell me; what are you good at?" Mark asked as he finished the ice-cream with just one bite. Dick thought that this kid ate as much as Wally.

"Well, I am pretty good at math; I am good at acrobats of almost any kind; I am good at chess and…"

"Stop there." interrupted Mark as he put his hand on Dick´s mouth as he tried to shut him up. "I want to know what is _Dick _good at, not _Richard Grayson._"

"What do you mean? I am both of them? They are the same!"

Mark, sat up and put Dick´s glasses off. "They are not the same person and you know that." Still with the glasses between his hands he laid next to Dick again. "Now answer the question."

Now Dick´s smile was gone and he was frowning. He thought about it for a second before answering with a cold voice.

"The only thing I am good at is destroying myself."

Mark gave him a sad smile and then he caressed his cheek softly. Dick leaned at the contact and involuntary he grabbed Mark´s hand. He didn´t want him to stop touching him. He had longed for physical contact for so long and he had just realized that in that precise moment. He loved when his mother took him to bed and hugged him until he fall sleep. He liked his father carrying him around whenever they were in a city.

"What do you mean by that?" his voice was so sweet and so low Dick knew that Mark only wanted to be heard by him. Dick moved a little closer to him and responded in a whisper.

"You were right, I am what everybody wants me to be and at the end of the day, I am everything except the person I want to be."

"And who is that person?"

Dick held his breathe. Mark´s hand was still tangled with his and their eyes were locked with his; their faces almost touching. Dick wanted to tell him everything. He needed to tell everything to anyone and for some reason it felt right to talk about it with Mark. It was so tempting.

"I can´t tell you." he finally said. His eyes went from Mark´s to the grass beneath him and he felt the time going on again. Mark´s hand was gone and suddenly he felt cold.

"I know this is hard for you. I don´t know why but it is pretty easy to see that something doesn´t let you open up." Dick didn´t want to see Mark now. He wished he had his domino mask on so he could avoid him looking directly into his eyes. Mark took Dick by the chin and made him look up. "But I know you will; maybe not now, but at some point."

Dick smiled at him and Mark kissed him in the forehead.

"I need to leave you at the parking lot before your grandfather picks you up."

Dick laughed. "He is not my grandfather, he is my butler."

"Oh, poor rich boy." Mark mocked him making him laugh a little bit more.

* * *

They entered to the parking lot and Dick jumped off the motorcycle with a huge smile on his face. Students were just leaving and Alfred hadn´t arrived yet. In other words he was safe!

"Thank god." he sighed as he took off the helmet and started putting on his school sweater.

"This was fun." said the older one after some seconds. Dick turned around and gave him a small smile.

"I showed you the best of Gotham, of course it was fun."

Mark walked closer to Dick and hugged him from behind. He pulled him closer to him and then whispered to his ear.

"But the company was the best." Dick couldn´t help to blush again. Damn, he was starting to blush too often.

Suddenly a giggle made him stop paying attention to Mark´s arms surrounding his torso. It was a loud laugh and the worst part was that Dick was able to recognize the owner of it. He freed himself from Mark´s hug and ran toward the entrance stairs. He stopped next to them to prevent other people to see him but allowing him full panoramic view.

Artemis was leaning on a pillar with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her cocky smile. Someone was next to her, caressing her neck and cheeks but Dick couldn´t see him even though he knew exactly who he was.

"I missed you." the familiar voice but not so loudly. Dick held his breath terrified.

"Of course you missed me. It´s me of who we are talking about; right?" she answered with harsh voice but with a little note of sarcasm at the end.

"You are a brat." he said as he kissed her neck and then her cheek.

"And you are an idiot who seemed unable to be on time even if his life depended on it." she answered back gaining another laugh from the boy.

"But I am your moron." Wally whispered before kissing her fully in the lips.

* * *

_**I hope you like it and leave some reviews telling me how do you think Dick is going to react at Wally/Artemis relationship?**_


	7. Lies

_**Sorry for grammar and spelling errors, this is unbeta (If someone wants to volunteer I will really appreciate it).**_

_**As always, reviews, favs and follows make my day :D**_

* * *

Chapter 6

"Dick?" asked Mark but Dick didn´t answered. One minute ago he was perfectly fine, he had gone to the entrance and now he seemed so lost, so confused. "What happened?"

Dick shook his head as only response. He couldn´t tell Mark what he had just seen and he didn´t want him to know how it was affecting him. He was hurt, and jealous, and heartbroken and mostly ashamed. Wally and him were only good friends, best friends since his 10 birthday. But that was it. He had no right to think Wally was for him. They were absolutely nothing. If he wanted to be with Artemis it should be fine for him. But it wasn´t.

"Say something." asked Mark again a little bit louder and tougher.

"Nothing." he had to make a lie; and fast. "I went to ask something to Barbara and she told me I failed a test because I didn´t get in the class, that is all."

Mark nodded trying to act like he had bought it. Dick knew Mark was able to notice it was something else what was bothering him; even though he thanked him for not asking again.

"You know you can talk to me about anything; right?" Dick nodded and then faked his best smile.

* * *

Robin took a big breathe and then he put his glasses on. His bedroom door opened and he was exposed to the empty corridor. He stared at it not wanting to take a step out of his room. He knew he had to face Wally. He had to look into his eyes and pretend he didn´t knew about his relationship with Artemis. He sighed and messed his hair with his hand as he tried to clear of his mind. He had to be cool. He needed to act like if he didn´t knew. That was the key. If Wally didn´t want to share his secret with him then he wouldn´t share it with him.

For a second he imagined what was waiting for him outside that corridor, in the kitchen. It was past noon so the team was probably eating lunch. Megan and Superboy would be all cheesy because of their newest relationship. Kaldur would be watching some international news and Wally and Artemis would be exchanging flirting looks they had managed to hide from him during the past weeks (maybe months).

"Fuck." he whispered to himself. This was going to be hard.

He started walking down the corridor without energy or joy. All he wanted to do was to go back to Gotham and spent some time with Mark.

_Mark does like you, _whispered his inner person in a lame attempt to cheer him up.

"But he is not Wally." he answered in a sigh.

Of course he had been mad at Wally and Artemis at the beginning. First because the fact that Wally was with someone else hurt him and second, he felt betrayed by his friend for not telling him about it. THEY WERE BEST FRIENDS FOR GOD´S SAKE! But then that anger was replaced by sadness. He couldn´t be mad at them because of something that wasn´t even wrong. If they were happy together he had no right to go and interfere only because he had a crush on the guy. Wally was his best friend since they were just kids and for Robin that friendship had become something more some years ago. He wanted Wally but now he had to accept that he didn´t like him back in the way he wanted; in the way he needed.

"Robin!" shouted Wally as he crashed against him making him fall. "Are you okay?"

Robin looked up and then his heart and brain went numb. Artemis had really good reasons to fall for the guy; his bright smile, his shinning green eyes, his freckles on his cheeks and that beautiful hair. Wally offered Robin his hand and for a moment Robin was too lost in his thoughts to answer or move. Why did he have to fall in love with his best friend? From all the people in the world, why Wally?

"As okay as I can be after being knocked down by a trunk."

Wally laughed.

_Damn how you love that laugh. _Joked his inner self but Robin managed to ignore it. He took Wally´s hand and then stood up. They were too close but Wally seemed unable to feel the sexual tension Robin was feeling. He was so close to those lips. Only one slight movement and they would be locked with his. He wanted to kiss him so badly it hurt him. It hurt him to know he would never be his.

"I mean it dude, is everything alright?" asked Wally as he leaned closer to the younger one. Robin shock his head.

"I am just tired. Long week with Bats." he tried to dissimulate the blush of his cheeks by looking down to his feet. From the corner of his eye he watched Wally nod in agreement.

"Now I get why he gave you this day off."

Robin looked at Wally puzzled. Day off? This wasn´t his day off. Bruce was on a business trip.

"Sorry, what are you talking about?"

Wally took some steps away from the boy. He looked as confused as Robin now.

"I thought… we all assumed…" he trailed off.

"Spit it out!" he didn´t want to sound that upset but he couldn´t control it.

"Kaldur was watching the news and suddenly a note from Gotham appeared. It was a live report of some fight Batman was having with "The Card"." He said the whole sentence without taking any breathe.

"That bastard!" he cursed between teeth as he passed next to Wally and ran towards the kitchen.

The TV was on and, as he had assumed before, Kaldur was watching it as he ate some salad on the kitchen bar.

"Robin!" said Megan from the kitchen table where she was sitting next to Conner. Artemis was eating a sandwich at the other extreme of the table.

Robin ignored them and put his attention on the screen. He could feel Kaldur gaze on him and so the presence of Wally looking at the TV from his shoulder. In other situation having Wally so close to him would have made him happy but now he couldn´t care less. He turned the volume up and watched the love report.

On the screen they were able to see a small batman standing on top of a building and _The Card _on the building facing the hero. It looked like if they were talking, no one seemed prepared to start a fight and that made the younger hero furious. Why was Batman at Gotham when he had told him the contraire? Why hadn´t he called him for help? Why was still at the mountain with the rest of the Young Justice League?

"Robin?" whispered Kaldur as he put his hand on my shoulder. Robin shock it away.

"How long?"he hissed.

"How long what?" asked back Kaldur with his usual calm and polite voice.

"How long has this report been on air?"

Kaldur looked at the rest of the team that just returned him confused looks. Robin sighed and put his attention back on the screen. The _Card _was alredy gone and so was Batman.

The image changed and now the tv showed the reporter reading some _useless _information about the villain.

"I am going to read that letter."

The team stood quiet as they watch Robin leave the room towards his room. No one moved or say a thing, they just stood staring at the door that connected the kitchen with the room´s corridor. They knew what it was coming and everyone was thinking of what to say in case that…

"THAT MORON!" they heard Robin´s scream and then a door slam. The mountain stood quiet until they heard a women´s voice announcing the exit of Batman´s protégée.

"Do you think?" started Artemis but she was interrupted by Wally.

"Yep." he said nodding slowly and then sitting next to the archer.

"And how do you think is going to react?" asked Megan.

"For what I overheard I think he didn´t react well." said Conner as he looked over Kaldur that was turning off the TV.

"What did you expected?" Kaldur leaned over the bar and then looked toward the rest of the team. "Batman managed to keep Robin, the best hacker of the world, unable to read a letter that thanks to one of us…" when he said that phrase he glared at Wally making the ginger look down ashamed. "he knows that is a threaten letter against him."

"But Batman is doing this for his own good." added Megan. Artemis shocked her head.

"But if that was Batman´s goal he is doing it all wrong."

Wally nodded in agreement. "Batman is treating Robin the same way since he was 11. Of course Robin wants to take part of new things and Batman isn´t letting him. And now if you add the fact that Batman is keeping secrets from Robin that concerns him, of course Robin could feel…"

"Betrayed." ended Kaldur.

"So that´s what you think?" asked Conner a little bit confused. "Do you think he is mad at Batman?"

"Of course he is pissed." answer Wally. "He has the right to be."

* * *

_**I hope you like it and leave some reviews telling me how do you think Dick is going to do now?**_


	8. Secrets

_**So this is kind of (maybe too) lame but I hope next chapter is going to be better. Slash in the next chapter and some darker themes in the next ones. **_

_**Sorry for grammar and spelling errors, this is unbeta (If someone wants to volunteer I will really appreciate it).**_

_**As always, reviews, favs and follows make my day :D**_

* * *

Chapter 7

"Bruce!" Dick entered to the mansion storming. His tutor was sitting on a couch at the living room while Alfred stood next to him with a cup of coffee between his hands. Bruce raised his gaze tired and stared at the kid without saying a word. Dick took some deeps breathes and then rubbed his face with his hands in order to try to clear of his mind. Yelling with Bruce was always useless. He would always manage to make him shut without even the use of yelling or he would just leave the room after giving him a _Batglare. _

"You should be at the Mountain with the rest of your team." for Dick´s surprise Bruce was the one to talk first.

"I thought you were in a business trip." he managed to say.

"I returned earlier." stated Bruce before returning to his lecture. Dick huffed.

"To have a little chat with _The Card?" _

"That is something that is not of your business."

How the hell he always managed to keep calm and cool? Dick knew how to lock his emotions almost all the time but Bruce was other thing. He never knew if Bruce was mad at him, worried or happy. Sometimes it drove Dick insane, just like now.

"It concerns me because he is after me!"

Bruce eyes opened a little bit more than usual but there wasn´t much difference to the neutral Bruce.

"What makes you think that?"

"I know about the card."

Bruce chuckled.

"You are lying."

"Why? because you hacked all the fucking websites and T.V. canals that received the letter?" Dick hissed as he paced himself in front of Bruce with his grin back on his face. Bruce frowned.

"That is confidential." he murmured not even looking at the teenager.

"Assbite." sighed Dick exasperated. And then Wally asked him why he loved spending so much time at the mountain or at sleepovers at his uncle´s house.

"And since when do you use those words?" asked Bruce a little bit harshly. Dick smiled at himself.

"Since I turned 14, that happened one year ago, if you hadn´t noticed yet." mocked Dick but it seemed Bruce found it funny.

"I don´t like it."

"Well, I don´t like you keeping secrets that might be of my concern."

"Why didn´t you tell me about the letter? Don´t you trust me?"

The room stood quiet for a long time. Alfred was still standing behind Bruce with a cup of coffee that was probably cold by now. That room, the one Dick had spend to much time doing homework with Bruce and Alfred helping him, the room where he used to play he was Batman with Wally pretending he was flash. That room that had always meant good memories to Dick had suddenly become to a cold and dark room. Bruce stood up from the couch and walked toward the fireplace where he moved some of the wood in order to make the flame bigger. Dick loved the smell of burned wood. It always relaxed him.

"I didn´t knew how would you react to it."

Dick bit his bottom lip. Why Bruce could think that about him? He was not a small kid afraid of his own shadow anymore. He had fought the Joker for God´s sake! "But you know I can handle anything, you trained me like that."

"I know."

"Then tell me what the letter says!"

"I wont."

"Why not?!" Dick didn´t mean to scream. He wanted to keep cool and calm, just like Bruce was but it didn´t worked. His phone kept buzzing on his pocket and it was hard to keep his attention to Bruce. He wanted to answer the phone because he knew exactly who was calling but he needed to know what the _Card _wanted for him. How he was planning on hurting him.

"You wouldn´t understand." Bruce was about to leave the room when the Dick´s phone automatically went from buzzing to loud ringtone.

"Shit." muttered Dick as he took his phone and opened it. "Mark, I am in the middle of something. I will call you in 5."

Bruce face finally changed to a frown. He wasn´t aware Dick had a new friend. And by the way his whole body language and face changed the moment he answered the phone he suspected there was something between those two.

"Who is Mark?"

Dick hung up and then put his phone back to his pocket.

"You wouldn´t understand."

He passed next to Bruce and ran upstairs not daring to look back.

* * *

He entered to his room and locked the door. After that he ran to his computer and hacked the bat-cave system. Dick knew since he was 12 that Bruce had cameras in his room 24/7 and he also knew the fastest way of hacking them and put a video of him sleeping. He never did that but now he had a good reason to. He pressed some keys and seconds later the video was playing and he was official out of Bruce view.

_Why does he have to be like this? _He thought as he leaned on his chair and stared at the ceiling. _Why can´t he trust me?_

Dick pulled his knees closer to his chest and hugged them as he buried his face on them. The room was in complete darkness except of the dim light that gave the battery bottom of his laptop but he didn´t want to stand up and turn the lights on. For a weird reason he was upset, too upset and he hated it. This was not normal in him. Having so many feelings running through his mind were driving him crazy. First he felt betrayed by Bruce´s secrets; then he was sick with jealousy because of Artemis and KF; and then Mark...

MARK!

Dick quickly grabbed his cell-phone and dialed Mark´s number as fast as he could. He waited two beeps before he heard Mark´s voice through the line. He smiled instantly.

"Hello pretty boy." Dick stood up from the chair and finally turned on the light. "Called you in a bad moment?"

"An awful moment." Dick admitted. "I was fighting about something with Bruce."

"He discovered that you missed school the other day?" he asked with real concern.

"No, it was not about that. It has something to do with him treating me like if I was a zero at his left side."

He heard Mark chuckle. "How bad was it?"

Dick thought about it for some seconds as he paced around his room. "Not that bad, I screamed at the end of the conversation and ran to my room before giving him time to scream back at me."

"Good move!" cheered Mark. Dick sighed; damn that kid was sure a _good _influence. "But you think he is upset with you?"

"I don´t know. I mean, Bruce has a really good poker face so he can either be mad at me or he can be… neutral? I really don´t know how to explain this."

They stood quiet for some seconds. On the other line, Dick was able to hear Mark´s steps running down some stairs. A TV program going on and then a door close. After that the noises of a street became louder.

"Do you want to go out and talk about it? I mean, face to face?"

Dick raised an eye brown confused. "It´s almost 11."

"So? The night is young and so are we."

"Bruce is not going to let me out."

"Then don´t ask him."

Dick bit his fingernail as he peeked toward the door and then the window. He could go out if he wanted. Even if his room was in the third floor of the mansion he could easily use some water tubes to go down and then climbing the wall that surrounded the mansion would be a piece of cake.

"I mean, if he is already angry at you he can´t get any angrier, right?"

"You don´t know Bruce."

He heard Mark´s motorcycle engine start and gelt his heart going crazy; just the way it did every time he was with Wally. _Wally. _The only thought of him with Artemis, probably in her room doing who-knows-what made his smile fade instantly.

"Well I know you and I know you are dying to say yes to my proposal so I am going to assume you are going to be waiting for me outside _the palace_ in about 5 minutes."

Dick took a deep breath as he rubbed his forehead tired. He could feel himself smiling again but this time not as wide. He peeked one last time to the door and ran over it in order to check the lock, perfect.

"What if you are here in 3 minutes?" Dick took a jacket from his closet and put it on without separating the phone from his ear.

"You are an impatient person Mr. Grayson." mocked Mark. Dick simply laugh at it and then hung up the phone.

* * *

_**So even if I would like some reviews in order to know if someone is really reading this story I made a **_**commitment with myself and I promise to finish this story. **


	9. Friend or Foe?

_**Hello again! New Chapter! **_

_**Sorry for grammar and spelling errors, this is unbeta (If someone wants to volunteer I will really appreciate it).**_

_**As always, reviews, favs and follows make my day :D**_

* * *

Chapter 9 Friend or Foe?

The weekend went faster than what Dick had expected. He had spent all Friday night with Mark and the rest of the weekend with his hero friends planning his birthday party. At the end of Sunday they had the place, who was bringing what, the guest list and who was getting the music. The list was full of young heroes and some new sidekicks except from Mark´s name on top of the list. Of course he was going to have Mark at the party but first he had to assure the rest of the team their secret´s identities weren´t in danger; after all he had a plan that would absolutely work. He spent Sunday night at the Mountain and at six a.m. he used the tele-transport to get to Gotham but not to the mansion. He put the coordinates of a second destiny and phoned Mark to pick him up there, way far from the mansion and Bruce.

He entered to the school with Mark´s arm surrounding his shoulder. He kissed the top of his head and Dick couldn´t help to smile and blush. He was wearing the usual uniform pants and shirt but on top of it he was wearing his favorite hoodie and for the first time in years he wasn´t wearing any gel; his hair was as messy as he always wear when he was dressed as robin in front of his YJ friends.

The couple passed in front of some groups of students and Dick was able to hear some whispering behind his back. He smiled at the fact that everyone was noticing, and not for being Wayne´s protégé or the smart ass of the school. They were talking about him being with Mark, the new badass of Gotham Academy.

"Do you like the attention pretty boy?" Dick looked up toward him and smiled.

"Kind of; I mean, I am the richest man´s charity case, I am used having the reflector over me."

Dick couldn´t believe he had said that out loud. After Mark picked him up that Friday night they had spend the whole time talking about each other _"Daddy´s problem". _That night he had become ever closer to Mark and for some reason he was becoming more and more comfortable around him, almost as comfortable as he was when he was Wally.

They entered to the school building and Dick noticed how Barbara was looking at him with a frown on her face and her hands on her hips, in other words, she was waiting him in the mode of _looney-Babs. _

"It´s seems your girlfriend is pissed off."

Dick smiled and walked towards the girl.

"Good morning Babs." he said calmly still with Mark hugging his shoulders. Barbara glared at the older boy but immediately she focused her eyes on Dick again.

"Where have you been, you moron?!" she screamed at him as she gave the kid a punch on the arm. "Bruce has called me about 15 times this weekend asking about you!"

"Really? What a surprise!" he chuckles earning another punch in the arm.

"Don´t joke with that Richard. He is really worried. He told me he tried calling to your cell-phone but it was off. You weren´t home for the 3 days! Of course he is worried as hell!" Barbara couldn´t understand why Dick was acting that way with Bruce, it seemed like he was trying to make him worried or upset on porpoise.

"My battery died on Friday night and I spent the weekend with some friends. I told him before but I supposed he simply forgot or he didn´t really payed a lot of attention." he said calmly. Barbara sighed in frustration.

"Okay; I really do not care about your family issues. Just call him and tell him you are alive so he can breathe normally again." she handed him her phone and Dick took him not too sure about it. He stared at the mobile for some seconds before he finally started pressing the bottoms. Barbara smiled triumphant.

Dick heard one beep and begged in his mind Bruce wouldn´t answer him; it didn´t worked.

"_Wayne._" A too familiar voice sounded from the other side of the line. Dick closed his eyes and took a big breathe. He had to be strong, he had to act confident.

"Hi Bruce, it´s Dick." he took some steps away from his friends whom were looking at him, one worried and the other curious. "I am at school."

Dick almost didn´t finished the phrase when Bruce started yelling at him from the other side of the line. Okay, it was not yelling. It sounded more like a neutral Batman voice, with a little more volume and with a little more rage. For a normal person it wouldn´t sound so different but Dick knew Bruce. And he knew he was pretty pissed off.

After the first two lines Dick decided to use a tactic Mark told him he always used when his mom screamed at him at the phone. He put it some centimeters away from his ear and waited until the noise stopped. He wasn´t really hearing what Bruce was saying but he was able to know the exact moment to answer with any simple monosyllable answer.

"Are you even listening to me!" now that was a scream. Dick smiled as he realized he had finally made Bruce scream like a real angry father.

"Of course Bruce."

"For the last time, where were you?"

Dick buffed. "I was at the mountain with the team, like you ordered me before."

"You left the house without my permission and I know you are lying."

"How come?"

"You slept at the mountain Saturday and Sunday; where were you Friday night?"

"Out." he simply answered making Bruce even more frustrated.

"Don´t give me that tone and answer the question."

"I am telling you the answer. If I wasn´t in the mansion and I wasn´t the mountain so is obvious that I was out."

Dick peeked at Mark and Barbara and he really tried to smile at them in a reassuring way. Of course, both of them noticed that something was off with him. Dick sighed and returned his attention to the phone.

"Richard…" it seemed that Bruce was about to tell him something else when he heard the bat-cave alarm going on.

Dick pressed the mobile more against his ear as he ran into the boy´s restroom. He checked if there were anyone around and when he found himself alone he locked the door. He entered to a cubicle and leaned on the wall.

"What´s that?" he asked to Bruce but the man didn´t answered.

"I have to leave Dick. Stay at school and wait for Alfred to pick you up at the end of the day. We need to have a serious conversation."

"It´s about _The Card; _right?" he hissed between teeth.

"Stay at the Academy Richard. It´s an order." and then the line went dead.

Dick was tempted to launch his cell-phone against the bathroom wall but he decided to make a better use of it. He managed to enter to the bat-cave computer and register the signal that had sent the alarm. He frowned as he saw the A´s of hearts in the alarm and the shadow of the _Card _waving at the camera. It was near his school. He could go there, see what that was about and return to school in less than two hours.

"Please cover me at Math." he screamed at Mark as he ran next to him and Barbara. He opened his locker and threw all his stuff in there without any care. Barbara and Mark stared at him confused.

"You are going skip school again?" shouted Barbara.

"May I go with you?" Mark screamed also earning a punch in his arm from Barbara. Dick shook his head.

"I have stuff to do and I will be back in about 2 hours." He closed his locker and then looked at his two friends with a pledging look. "Could you please cover me up?"

Mark said yes without any hesitation. Barbara thought about it for some seconds. She didn´t like the idea of Dick skipping school but by the way he was looking at them it should have been important. She sighed and then she nodded slightly.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Robin entered to the empty hotel where the alarm had been set on by the Card. He was wearing his costume and his motorcycle was hidden behind some dumpsters a street away from the building. He wasn´t surprised Batman wasn´t there yet. The mansion was at the other edge of Gotham and no matter how fast he could drive, Dick had some more minutes before Batman could appear.

He inspected the building and couldn´t find any sign of life. Everything was in perfect order and nothing was out of place. The computers were on. All the chairs of the lobby were in perfect order. It was like if someone had set this up.

_Fuck! _

Suddenly the television at the bar was turned on. Robin jumped ready to defend himself but when he noticed he was alone he decided to relax. Slowly, he walked towards the bar and stared at the screen. It had only static but Robin knew there had to be a meaning in it. If the _Card _was Joker´s apprentice everything odd had an important meaning.

He took some steps closer and tried to find anything, any patron, a word hidden, a coordinates…anything!

"You really think I am like the Joker?" The Card´s voice sounded behind him. Robin smiled.

"I supposed, after all you are his apprentice." Robin turned

The Card chuckled as he sat down on a table and started playing with an empty glass. "So that means that you are like Batman?"

Robin tightened his teeth and looked away. He knew that game; the villain was trying to play with his mind and it was under his control if he was going to let him.

"That is completely out of context." he said without too much emotion. The Card smiled.

"You are right; I am here to talk with you about you; not about daddy-bats."

He pointed toward the chair in front of him as he smiled at the sidekick. Robin took a step closer to the villain but then he decided to sit down on the bar, as far as he could from him. Suddenly he remembered Bruce. He was just seconds from getting there and punishing because he missed school. He bit his lip as he peeked toward the main entrance. He heard the Card chuckle again.

"Don´t worry about getting interrupted. I gave him a false clue seconds before you arrived."

"You don´t know Batman." said Robin trying to sound sarcastic.

"Oh pretty boy. I know him better than what you think." he said almost in a whisper. Robin sighed and then looked down towards his utility belt. That second he stop staring at the Card was enough for the villain to leave his sit and stand just inches away from Robin´s face. The kid blushed furiously and tried to run away. The villain was too fast and too strong and with a single grip on his arm made him sit down again. "I missed you that Friday night."

Robin pulled his face away but the Card made him look at him by grabbing his hair. Robin wanted say something or at least defend himself but there was something that stopped him. There was something in the supervillain that made him feel weak and vulnerable. The card managed to grab his wrists with one hand as he pulled his hair even harder making Robin cry in pain

"And by what I know about Batman I supposed you haven´t read the letter." he whispered next to his ear.

"Of course I read it, moron." Robin managed to look into the Card´s eyes and tried to look defiant. "Bruce and I are a team and we trust each other." He was never good at lying and he felt surprised he had managed to keep his poker face so good.

"Fucking liar." hissed the Card. "What did it said in that case?"

"You already know that, you wrote it down."

The Card laughed loudly as pushed the Boy Wonder making him fall. Robin jumped the moment he touched the floor and stared at the Card ready to respond to any other attack.

"You know kid, I am not here to fight with you. I am here to help you." The Card offered the sidekick a warm smile and then took some steps back in order to make Robin feel more comfortable. The Boy Wonder didn´t believed a word.

"I remembered you told me you wanted to hurt Batman by hurting me."

The Card shook his head. "I am planning to hurt Batman but I have no intentions on hurting you. I just want you to see the truth. I want to make you free from Batman´s shadow. Is that so bad?"

Robin took some steps back as he grabbed one smoke bomb and hid it on his glove. "I don´t believe you."

"Can I know why not?" The Card was acting (or was trying to act) so innocently and kind. Robin knew that he was just steps away from getting into his mind and by his experiences with Gotham´s villains, he knew they loved playing with his tormented mind.

"Because the person that can stand The Joker for more than a week has to be as mad as him." he tried to sound sarcastic and cool. This time the lie didn´t come as smooth as he wanted it to sound.

"I can show you that my intentions are good." The Card looked into his coat jacket and took an envelope. It was sealed and he handed to the Boy Wonder. The teenager stared at it and then he placed his eyes on the villain that was smiling at him again. "Take it. It´s the letter I know Batman never gave to you."

Dick took a big breathe. Again the same thing he had felt a week ago. There was the letter, the thing Bruce had taken so many precautions to keep him away from, so close but at the same time so far. If he took it, it would mean he _almost _trusted the villain. If he left it hanging on there was a chance he would never know what was it about. And his curiosity was too much. The Card walked closer to the sidekick. Robin stretched his arm and took the letter carefully and slowly. He didn´t opened in that moment, he just put inside his belt and then he left the building running without looking back. He ran so fast he wasn´t able to listen how the Cart muttered some words between his teeth.

"Good boy Richard_." _He said before bursting into an hysterical laughter. _What a stupid boy…_

* * *

**Longest chapte so far and still, I think the next two will be better because...I will leave you hanging. Please send your reviews to tell me what you think so far!**


	10. Grounded?

_**Hello again! New Chapter!**_

_**Also, this chapter is dedicated to **_**_tashy-lou, ,my lovely new beta reader! Thanks a lot girl!_**

_**As always, reviews, favs and follows make my day :D**_

* * *

Chapter 10 Grounded?

Dick took another outfit out of his closet and tried it on. Normally his room was flawless, but that Thursday night it looked like Wally had made a tornado inside it. He checked himself in the mirror and frowned. No, that wasn't it. He took his shirt off and tossed it on the floor among twenty others that were already lying there. He checked his jeans and decided that they were his best option. Tight but not so tight that they showed _everything. _Now all he was missing was a shirt and shoes.

He knelt in front of his shoe shelf and stared at the shoes. He had all kinds which made it even harder to pick one pair. He chose his newest black converse and tried them on. A goofy smile appeared on his face as he checked how they looked with the jeans: perfect. He stared at himself in the mirror and smiled at his appearance. Just a few more minutes and he would be fifteen. Just twenty four more hours and he would be at an amazing party with all his friends, Wally, and...Mark.

He sat on the bed and stared out the window. He wanted to look perfect because he wanted Mark to see him not as the circus freak in advanced math class, but as Dick; or, in this case, Robin.

He sighed as he remembered that little detail. His friends didn't know he was Dick Grayson, but Mark didn't know he was Robin, sidekick to the Batman. He needed an awesome excuse to keep his identity hidden, unless- no, that was not an option. Bruce would never let him tell his friends at Young Justice his real name.

"Richard Grayson!" Bruce called from the other side of the door. Dick stood up and grabbed a random shirt from the floor.

"Yes, Bruce?" he said as he opened the door halfway. Bruce was still in his Batman suit and he looked pretty pissed. Dick gulped involuntarily.

"Guess who received a call from your school this afternoon?"

Dick stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him. He knew that it wasn't a question that expected an answer. The kid looked down, trying to look ashamed even though he knew why they had called and he didn't feel ashamed at all.

"You missed school on Monday," Bruce stated. Dick smiled. He didn't know about the fight he'd had with his Spanish teacher that morning.

"And they just called you?" Dick asked in a mocking way. Bruce frowned. Dick smiled as he realised he'd just caught him in the middle of a bad lie.

"That is not the point. School should be your first priority."

"I have a good reason to skip some classes."

"Tell me." Bruce crossed his arms across his chest and Dick mimicked it.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't understand." Dick said in a soft voice. That was the truth, if Bruce knew about his little chat with the Card Dick would be in big trouble. Bruce sighed and then took off his mask.

"In that case, you are grounded." He said emotionless. Dick felt his blood run cold.

_What?! Grounded?! The day before his birthday?!_

"Bruce-" Dick tried to say something, but Bruce didn't give him a chance. He was now heading downstairs with his eyes locked on the floor. Dick leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He had asked for it, as Barbara would say, but in some way he knew that no matter what he did he would end up losing. He couldn't be Robin and Dick at the same time. Richard was supposed to be at school, but Robin was supposed to confront the Card, he was a superhero after all.

"Are you grounding me as Dick or Robin?!" He screamed from the edge of the stairs. Bruce turned and gave him a confused look. "because if you look at it from Robin's perspective, I was only following your orders so you have no reason to ground me."

"I specifically told you to stay at school!"

Dick shook his head. "You told Richard to stay at school, but as Robin I had to answer the call of duty, as you would say."

Bruce was beginning to get frustrated. "Richard and Robin are the same person, for god's sake!"

"No, they are not!" Dick shouted as he ran down the stairs. "And that was something I wanted to talk to you about, Bruce. I don't want to do this anymore. I _can't_ keep doing this anymore!" Dick was breathing hard. This was now or never. "I want to tell the team my real identity."

The room was silent for a few seconds. The light was dim and in the background Dick could here the clock announcing that it was already midnight. He had just turned fifteen. He smiled at the thought and really hoped that Bruce would give him permission to tell his friends who he was. He looked expectantly at his mentor, his heart beating like crazy.

"No."

One word, two letters, and it made Dick's world crumble down around him.

"And you are still grounded, as Dick or Robin, whichever you prefer."

At that the hero left the boy alone in the living room with his hands balled tightly into fists. He bit his bottom lip and then he ran upstairs to his room. He closed the door with a slam. He hen locked the door and unplugged every security device in his room. He managed to make his room Bruce-proof in less than two minutes but still he felt uneasy. Like he was being watched and, at the same time, judged. That was how he always felt when he was with Bruce; judged. For a moment he wondered what he would say if he knew he was attracted to boys, or that he talked to the Card and has actually accepted a gift from him.

He tried to remove these thoughts from his mind but they were determined to stay stuck there. Suddenly he remembered something, something that Mark had taught him two days ago.

_Dick was having lunch with Mark under the shadow of a big tree, talking about some new rock band which Mark had found last night. Dick was sitting between Mark's legs and the other boy was holding him by the hips. As the weather was still chilly in Gotham, Dick was thankful for the warmth of Mark's body._

_"So, how have things been with you and Bruce?"_

_Dick sighed._

_"Okay, he's not that mad at me for being gone for three days, but I know he is watching every step I take. Like he's just waiting for me to mess something up."_

_Mark nodded as he started tracing small circles down Dick's arm._

_"Are you okay?" He asked with real concern in his voice. Dick raised his shoulders in a shrug._

_"I'm not sure. It makes me kind of upset, but I can't manage to let it out. I want to scream and all that stuff, but I never can."_

_Mark hugged Dick's hips even tighter and put his head between Dick's shoulder and neck. Dick blushed when he felt Mark's lips suddenly brush against his neck, but he remained quiet._

_"I understand." Mark whispered against Dick's neck, "but I have a tip that could help you."_

_The older boy moved a little as he freed his arms from around Dick and wit his right hand he pulled up his left sleeve. Dick stared at his arm covered in long, but not deep, scars, speechless._

_"What happened?" asked Dick as he turned to kneel in front of Mark. The older boy caressed his cheek as he smiled at the blue eyed boy._

_"I made them."_

_Dick shook his head._

_"It doesn't make sense" he whispered as he looked down towards the scars once more._

_"It helps the pain and frustration to go away for a while." Mark held Dick's chin and made him look up into his dark eyes. "I know it's not the best way to deal with stuff, but it helps me."_

_"Aren't you afraid of the dangers?"_

_Mark laughed. "I' not stupid enough to let myself bleed to death. The cuts are always superficial and I've learnt to clean them when I'm finished." He paused for a second, "Do you want me to teach you?"_

_End of Flashback_

Dick stared at his reflection in the mirror. The bathroom door was closed and locked. The warm water kept running down the shower and Dick saw the steam that was covering the mirror. He sighed as he grabbed the sink in order to keep his balance and avoid a fall. He closed his eyes as some tears escaped. A sharp pain made him bite his bottom lip so he could silence a scream.

Mark was right.

He could control his pain.

He was in control of his body.

He was in control of who he was and who he wanted to be.

He could make decisions on his own.

He had the power.

He looked up and found himself unable to see his own reflection in the mirror. He wiped his left hand across the mirror leaving a trail of fresh blood.

* * *

**So I am really happy becuase my computer is alive again! Yeiii! Hope you liked the chapter and please send me your reviews...**


	11. The Party

**_Sorry for the delay with this chapter. But still, hope you like it. Expect some Ooc in Robin and also some angry Batman. Loves :3_**

**_Disclamer: I own nothing_**

* * *

Chapter11:

_I can´t keep this. I don´t want this. I don´t want to feel lost. I hate being played. Tell me if you love me. Tell me what you feel when our eyes meet and our hands touch. I don´t want to live guessing. I don´t want to be faithful to a person that doesn´t understand that he already owns my heart. If you don´t tell me anything tonight then I can assure you I will never do this again. I will never write you poems or think about you when I play any silly love song. If you don´t say to me I love you tonight, I assure you, I will end up telling it to someone else. _

The kid started at the piece of paper as he pasted on the wall between other pieces of paper full with other thoughts and poems. All of them where meant for Wally but Dick never had the chance and the bravery to give them to him. He was too ashamed and scared his feelings wouldn´t be corresponded. But now things were going to be different. From now on Wally would be out of his thoughts and so would be Bruce. Enough of young and sweet Richard.

Dick sat on the bed and changed his wrist´s bandage. The wounds were almost healed because he hadn´t made deep cuts. He got himself changed and at 8 pm he was officially ready for his birthday party. He leaned over his bedroom door and before he locked it he put his ear over it so he could hear if Alfred or Bruce were near. The cameras were already hacked and so the rest of the mansion security. He waited some seconds and when he was sure no one was around he ran towards the window. He jumped down to the front garden and waited. He waited for the dogs to start barking or the alarm to start screaming but nothing happened. He was officially out.

Climbing the wall that surrounded the mansion´s front yard was a piece of cake and when his feet touched the floor of the street he was able to breathe again.

He took some deep breathes and then he ran. He ran down the street feeling weird. He felt excited, he felt free, he felt nervous, he felt scared but what most scared him was that he was feeling great. He didn´t stop until he arrived to the old theater at downtown and then he leaned on the wall as he tried to catch his breath. Mark would be picking him up in less than 5 minutes.

He looked around and noticed how all the people passed by without even noticing him. Everyone looked so different and that was something that would always marvel the kid. How people could look happy, sad or angry without even noticing themselves. Dick could never do that, he was too aware of his body and his expressions. Sometimes he wished he was more spontaneous and carefree.

Suddenly a red motorcycle stopped in front of him. Some people screamed at the driver annoyed that he had parked in the middle of the street but he just answered them by showing them his middle finger. Dick laughed and wished he could be as spontaneous as Mark.

"Hello pretty boy." said Mark as he took off his helmet and gave it to Dick. "Ready to party _all night long_?"

Dick nodded and then jumped to the motorcycle. He put the helmet and so did Mark and then he started the vehicle. Dick didn´t cared the speed, he didn´t cared that Mark was running through Gotham´s city like if he was being chased by the Joker. He enjoyed speed. He enjoyed feeling the adrenaline of going faster and faster and mostly he liked the sense of freedom, the sensation of being unapproachable.

"Dick?" Dick looked up and leaned over Mark´s back so he could hear him better. "I have something to tell you."

Dick frowned. Mark sounded worried. "What did you do?"

"I kind of told some of my friends about your party."

Dick sighed. Okay, that wasn´t such a big deal, a couple of people wouldn´t hurt anybody. "How many?"

Mark thought about it for a moment. "3 or 4."

The younger one hugged Mark´s waist and leaned his head on his back. "I don´t think there is going to be any problem. The place is pretty big according to Artemis."

Very few he knew.

* * *

The address Artemis had given Dick on Sunday was a big and pretty old house in the middle of several abandoned buildings. From the windows Dick was able to see some multicolor lights dancing around with the music that he heard coming from the house. There were some young heroes outside the house chatting around and from the outside Dick saw some shadows of people dancing and hanging out. He took off the helmet and passed it to Mark.

"Ready?" Dick nodded.

Dick and Mark entered to the house and Dick couldn´t help to gasp as he saw the amount of teenagers in it. It was unbelievable! The house was full. All the rooms were filled with teenagers that were chatting, kissing or dancing like crazies. On the stairs he saw some guys smoking and in the second floor Dick was able to see a couple entering to a room and then closing the door behind them.

"I recall you said you only told 3 or 4." screamed Dick above the electronic music.

Mark laughed.

"I did, I swear." Dick frowned but his playful smile didn´t leave his face. "But as always, those ones told other 4 or 5 people, and those told 2 more and…"

"I have the whole school at my party!"

The two boys laughed at the same time. Suddenly Dick felt a hand grabbing his shoulder and then pulling him backwards. He turned around scared and mostly ready to punch if the other person meant to harm him. He smiled the moment he recognized Wally´s face.

"Rob!" shouted the ginger as he jumped towards the smaller guy and hugged him tightly. "Happy Birthday!" Dick hugged Wally back and tried to hide the blush that had appeared on his cheeks from Mark. Suddenly Wally pushed him away and stared at him confused. "Dude, you don´t have your sunglasses on!"

Dick nodded. "For now on you can call me Dick!" he shouted. He turned to see

Mark started at Wally with serious eyes and, for a moment, Dick saw real jealousy on his eyes. "Could you give me 5 minutes? I have to do something."

Mark frowned and leaned over Dick so he was always to whisper beside his ear.

"I will get some drinks. See you on the dance floor whenever you are done." Dick nodded and when he felt Mark´s lips brushing against his ear he felt his heart skip a beat.

Wally, who noticed the sexual tension in the scene, looked away starting to feel uneasy. When Mark finally left Dick and him headed toward the rest of the team was waiting for them. Artemis was wearing a short top with skinny jeans and high heels. Connor was using a normal shirt with jeans and so was Kaldur that looked worried and tensed. Megan and Zantanna were using some short dresses, Megan a pink one and Zantanna a black one. Each of the teens had a red cup between his hands and were chatting between each other over a large couch that Dick wondered how old it was for the color of the fabric and the way it sank with the weight of the teenagers.

"Wally!" shouted Megan as he stood up and ran towards Wally overly excited.

"Who is your friend?"

Dick laughed at the comment and then looked over Wally, asking him to introduce him. Wally smiled at the younger one.

"Guys, this is Dick Grayson, but I think you know him better by the name of Robin."

Everyone opened their mouths shocked.

"Robin?" asked Megan as he approached the kid and pocked his cheek not believing it. "You look so…"

"Good looking?" he joked.

"So you are the guy that took me a photograph at my first day in the Academy?" shouted Artemis surprised and kind of annoyed she hadn´t managed to recognize the boy before.

Dick nodded.

"Your eyes are so blue." whispered Zantanna. Dick blushed at the comment.

"Thank you… I guess."

Kaldur finally stood up from his place and dragged Dick some steps away from the rest of the team. Dick followed him without saying a word. He could guess what Kaldur was about to tell him.

"Does Batman know?" he went direct to the point and so did Dick.

"No."

Kaldur sighed.

"Is this going to affect your stay at the team?"

Dick shook his head. "I won´t let him. Kaldur we are not kids anymore; I am not a kid anymore. I have the right to decide what to do with my identity."

"Batman should have his reasons to prohibit…" he started but Dick cut him off.

"Batman ALWAYS has good reasons to do the stuff he does. But if he wants me to respect them, he has to tell them to me. I am tired of guessing with _good reasons." _

Kaldur nodded, completely understanding what Robin, no, Dick was trying the tell him. The thing was that he wasn´t sure what would the consequences would end up being. Dick waited for Kaldur to say something, anything, but the leader didn´t add anything. Dick decided it was time to return with his friends. Kaldur followed him seconds later.

Artemis was sitting on Wally´s lap and talking with their faces really close making Dick sort of uncomfortable. He saw a cup standing alone on the table in front of the couch and he drank the content without even asking if it was of any of his team mates. The vodka burned his throat but he ignored the feeling and finished it in less than a second.

"So Dick." said Wally when he finally acknowledged he was returned. "Who was that guy that brought you to the party?"

Dick blushed as he saw all his friends turned their heads to see him with shocked eyes.

"Robin." said Zantanna as she winked at Dick. "I didn´t know you were more into the _m_ team rather than the_ f_."

Half of the group turned around and stared at her with confused eyes. Dick rolled his eyes.

"His name is Mark." said Dick shyly.

Artemis smirked at him evilly. "And?"

"And he came here with me." he took the bottle of vodka and he poured some more in his glass. "As in a date way."

All the girls screamed excited. Wally and Kaldur exchanged looks of surprised while Connor just stared at Dick with empty eyes. Dick tried to make the girls stop shouting because they were catching the attention of the rest of the people around them. He was blushing furiously but for some reason he couldn´t stop smiling.

"It is wrong." Connor said out of nowhere. All the girls stopped talking and screaming at the same time. Dick felt all his blood going cold. That was something he had expected to come after his out-coming but it still felt like a knife against his heart. "You can´t like another guy. It is wrong."

Megan changed looks between Dick, Connor and the rest of the team confused. She wasn´t sure still what was right or wrong in earth relationships so the fact that Connor said that Dick´s relationship with this guy, Mark, was wrong it left her pretty confused. Wally and Zantanna exchanged concerned looks while Kaldur just sighed tired. Artemis was the only one that looked upset by the comment.

"No, it´s not wrong." said Dick trying to sound calm and cool. "It´s just another kind of love."

Connor shook his head. "Love is between a girl and a boy."

"Not always." Dick was trying to stay calm but he really didn´t want to have that conversation in that moment. He didn´t want to have this conversation at all!

"It is not natural, is like if you were in love with a dog." Connor looked seriously pissed. Dick was starting to feel the same way.

"It is not the same thing!" he screamed as he stood up from his place and gave a last drink to the cup finishing the last trace of vodka. He felt dizzy because he had stood up so quickly but he concluded he could still control himself and walk like a decent person. "Mark is waiting me and I don´t have time to fight with a stubborn clone."

Connor frowned and Megan caressed his cheek trying to calm him. Dick knew that conversation was far from being over but he hoped one of his team mates could help him trying to explain the clone about all kinds of sexual orientations. He really hoped someone would because if Connor did another comment like that he would have no mercy with the guy in the next training.

Dick passes between drunken teenagers as he tried to locate Mark. Most of them were Gotham Academy´s students and Dick knew each one of them, only a few took the time to say hi to him and congratulate him for his birthday. Dick responded each of them with a huge smile; that was the only thing he could do in that moment. Dick entered to what appeared to be the living room that was filled with kids that were dancing at the rhythm of an electronic song. Dick tried to pass through the crowd but there was no room for walking anymore.

"Dick!" someone shouted from one of his sides. Dick felt a hand taking his wrist and pulling him to his left. "I finally find you."

Dick smiled at Mark. "I was about to say the same thing."

Mark took Dick´s waist with his two hands and pulled him closer. Dick surrounded Mark´s neck with his arms and buried his face in his shoulders. It was kind of awkward to be standing in such position having so many people around them dancing and pushing them around but Dick felt right. He felt good, having Mark close it felt good.

"Can I have this dance?" purred Mark in Dick´s ear making the younger one shiver with anticipation.

* * *

"Bruce, you are over reacting." sighed Barry as he looked at Gotham through the car window. He felt the car going faster and he feared he had messed things even more. "Could you please at least slow down? You are going to get us killed."

Bruce ignored the ginger comment and kept his eyes focused on the road. He saw the traffic light going red and he had to stop the car. Barry finally faced Bruce.

"Why don´t you wait Dick to return to the mansion so you can ground him?" he said trying not to sound cool and not as worried as he was feeling. "If you make an entrance at his birthday party you will embarrass the boy in front of all his friends."

"He disobeyed me. He has to learn to follow orders and respect his superiors!" said Bruce.

The light traffic became green again and Bruce pressed the accelerator.

"He is a teenager."

"I don´t care how you treat your sidekick but Dick knows my rules and he has to follow them, there is no other way."

Barry frowned at Bruce comment. "Wally is not just my sidekick, he is my nephew." he said. "And Dick isn´t only your sidekick, he is also your son. Do you understand that?"

Bruce didn´t answer.

* * *

**Hope you liked it and please leave your reviews :D**


	12. Not you, not never

**_Chapter 12: Not you, not never_**

**_Warnings: Some swearing but nothing too bad. _**

* * *

Chapter 12. Not you, not never.

The house was as full as it could be. Random people would reach out for Dick and hugged him and tell him happy birthday. Dick, used to that kind of hypocrisy and fakeness, would smile at them and respond with sweet but emotionless words. Mostly he only said a silent "thank you" and then he returned dancing with Mark.

The music was loud and the room was too full. Dick was literally standing on Mark´s shoes as he hugged the taller one by the neck. He tried to keep calm but his heart was pounding like crazy and that damn blush on his face denied disappearing. So instead of focusing his attention on Mark he decided to try to look for his teammates.

Wally and Artemis were the easiest ones. They were at the other corner making out like if they were in a room by themselves. Wally´s hands worked fast through Artemis body as the girl kissed Wally´s cheeks, neck and lips. Dick had to look away. Maybe he had Mark and he knew that Wally was far off limits but still, it hurt. So he decided to keep looking. Zantanna and Megan were dancing together as some guys tried to heat on her. Luckily the young witch knew exactly what to do and Dick smiled as he noticed how the girl would hit the guys with her elbow every time they tried to get to near to them. Kaldur and Connor were still sitting on the same couch, each one with a red cup between their hands but neither of them drinking them. Connor had his eyes fixed on Megan while Kaldur just stared at Dick with an annoyed frown.

Dick glared at him and then he returned his attention to Mark who was pulling him closer, if that was even possible.

"Do you like your party?" he asked as he leaned over Dick.

The younger one nodded. "How couldn´t I. I am finally having some fun, my friends are here and I am dancing with…"

He stopped talking just in time before he spit out _the coolest and most handsome guy in the whole school. _Mark smiled at Dick and hugged his hips.

"Cool, because I am dancing with the cutest guy in Gotham."

Dick blushed and looked down. Mark was able to say those stuff without second guessing. Why he couldn´t be like that? Why he couldn´t just let the things fall into places and be happy with the result?

Mark took him but the chin and made him look up. The room was almost dark except from the neon lights that flashed through the crowd at the rhythm of the music. Dick was over thinking once again. Mark was leaning closer and closer to his face. He could feel the taller guy heartbeat going faster and, for the first time in those 2 weeks, he could see a soft blush on his cheeks. Damn it! He was going to kiss him. He was going to have his first kiss, with Mark and in the middle of a dance floor surrounded by drunken teenagers.

He sighed and for a moment he felt tempted to just turn around and run away. Of course the idea of kissing Mark wasn´t bad; it was beyond great in some way, but he was scared his superhero duties would get in the way. He was not a normal teenager that could hang out with friends whenever he wanted. He had duties as Robin and it wouldn´t be fair for Mark to stick to that. The last thing Dick wanted to do was hurt Mark.

He closed his eyes and Mark´s lips touched his softly. It was a soft and tender kiss but it left Dick breathless, it was a new sensation and Dick felt numb for not knowing what to do. Mark moved away slowly but Dick didn´t let him. With his arms he pulled him to kiss him again.

"I can assumed I got you hook up." joked Mark making Dick smile as well.

"Shut up." he hissed and then he kissed him again.

This time Mark opened his mouth and sucked Dick´s lower lip making him feel electricity through his whole body. He tried to copy Mark´s moves but he felt too clumsy and sloppy. When they pulled away Dick looked down trying to hide his embarrassment.

"I am your first kiss, right?"

Dick nodded. "I am that obvious?"

The music was a little bit softer and less loud. People around him kept dancing pushing them around but Dick and Mark ignored him.

"You shouldn´t be ashamed. After all, I have experience and nobody was born knowing." he joked as he hugged Dick tightly.

"You know." Dick turned and caught Kaldur still looking at him; he could read the anger on his face and also his shock. The younger one smiled slightly. "I am a fast learner."

Mark laughed. "Then let´s keep practicing."

Dick closed his eyes and waited for Mark´s lips that never came. Instead, he felt Mark´s arms letting him go and he almost fell to the floor after someone shoved him aside. He opened his eyes, ready to punch whoever had pushed him away. Suddenly he felt his blood going cold as he watched his tutor holding Mark by the collar of his shirt and shaking him violently.

"Who are you and what the hell do you think you are doing with Richard?" shouted Bruce as he kept shaking the guy.

Dick stood up and ran towards his mentor, ready to defend Mark.

"Bruce!" he shouted as he pulled the man´s arms to catch his attention. "Let him go!"

The music was off and the lights were on again so everyone inside the house was staring at the scene before their eyes. Wally, Artemis, Zantanna and Megan were trying to get towards Dick but the crowd didn´t let them pass through. Wally shouted something but Dick didn´t hear him. In fact, he couldn´t think about anything that getting Bruce off of Mark.

"Don´t you dare to hurt him, you idiot!" shouted the teen as he kept pulling Bruce.

The millionaire changed his attention to Dick and his frown became even wider. He was upset, it was too easy to read and that scared the hell off the team. Almost everyone made the connection quite quickly; Bruce and Dick were like son and father so it was pretty obvious the secret identity of Batman. Bruce finally let go Mark but with a quick movement he grabbed Dick by the arm and started guiding him to the door.

"Let go!" shouted Dick as he tried to break free from his father grip. "I swear to you if you…"

Bruce shoved Dick against a pillar outside the door and made him look him in the eyes.

"If I don´t what Dick?" shouted Bruce.

"Let me go!" answered back the teenager.

Bruce just buffed and then he tried to make Dick enter into the car where Barry was waiting with his arms crossed up his chest. Some of the teenagers that were watching Bruce and Dick´s arguments used the perfect opportunity and started taking video and photos of them. Other just whispered around them but mostly were looking at Dick with worried eyes.

"DICK!" Mark shouted making the duo turned around. Mark was standing on the door frame with Conner holding him so he wouldn´t run and tried to punch Bruce. Dick took the chance and pulled away from Bruce.

"Please." He whispered as he took some steps back from Bruce and the car. "Just listen to me."

Bruce rubbed his eyes showing how tired and annoyed he was feeling. "Get in the car." he ordered with a calmer tone of voice.

"It´s my birthday and all my friends organized it for me. Please, let me stay for a couple of hours and then you can ground me for the rest of the month if you want." he tried to make Bruce understand and, with a little bit of luck, make Bruce let him stay with Mark. Of course; Bruce was not the kind of man that would give up easily.

"Get. In. The. Car. Right. Now!" he made an especial emphasis on the last word.

Dick shook his head. "No, I won´t."

He heard some gasps around them.

"I am not saying this a third time."

"Just this time, please Bruce." he begged between teeth. He couldn´t believe he was fighting Bruce, and in public from all places. The man walked closer to Dick and whispered so nobody could hear him.

"So you can get drunk and probably get into bed with that punk?"

Dick saw red.

"He is way better than the whores you pick up from your fucking parties of rich brats!" he snapped.

Bruce put his hand up about to slap him but Dick was faster and was able to hold Bruce´s hand. He knew better than anyone that Bruce wasn´t going to hit him hard so he was able to stop the hit.

Wally and Barry lost all the color on their faces. Artemis and Zantanna blushed at the comment while Megan and Connor just looked at Kaldur at the same time not understanding what was happening. Kaldur just shook his head slowly.

"Enough!"

"As always, exactly when you say so, right?"

"We can talk this in the mansion."

"What if I don´t want to go?"

"Don´t make threats with me Richard. You know better than that."

Dick bit his lip and glared at him defiant. "What is it Bruce? Scared I am not the same scared little 12 year old boy?"

Bruce huffed one last time and with a quick movement he shoved Dick inside the car and closed the door with a loud slam. Dick tried to opened the door but it was locked.

"Damn it Bruce! Let me out!" he shouted as he started hitting the window. Bruce ignored him and sat on the driver´s seat. He turned on the engine.

"You are a fucking bastard, you know that?" said Dick as he gave his adoptive father a killer look. Bruce peeked at him and then he pressed the accelerator.

* * *

"I am sick of it!" he shouted as he stormed into the mansion. Alfred, who was waiting for the two masters, stared at them with a shocked look. Dick passed next to him without even noticing him which was odd in the young Grayson. He opened his mouth to ask him what was going on when he heard Bruce voice.

"Dick, my patience has a limit and you are just about to cross it!" shouted back the millionaire as he entered to the house and dropped his jacket to the sofa. Dick was starting to run up the stairs when he stopped him by grabbing his arm tightly. Dick winced and tried to pull away. "Do you understand what you just did? Kissing that boy and going to a party with alcohol being only 15? You just humiliated the whole Wayne´s Industries! You humiliated me!"

Dick glared at Bruce and then pulled his arm so hard he managed to escape Bruce grip.

"Bruce, it was party! It had absolutely nothing to do with your Industry. The only thing who was humiliated back there was me!"

"You are the guard of the owner of half of Gotham and also the sidekick of Gotham. You are not a simple teenager; for god´s sake. You need to understand that, and you have to do that now!"

"You are the one who doesn´t want to understand!"

Suddenly the teen remembered something and passed next to Bruce as he ran down stairs and entered to the living room. He turned on the lights and started searching for his cell-phone in his bag-pack. He checked his missed called and sighed as he read the 24 missed calls and 10 messages from Bruce. He deleted them without second guessing.

"This isn´t over Richard." Dick didn´t even turned to face his protector. He was too worried reading the message Mark had just sent him. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Why should I listen to you?" hissed Dick as he closed his cell-phone and put it on his pocket. "You never listen to me!"

He wasn´t in the mood and he knew it was worthless trying to talk to Bruce. He had ruined everything. He had the guy. He had his friends around him. He was finally having five minutes of fun and then he came and ruined everything. It was unfair and, yes, he was right, it was embarrassing. He had just become the joke of the school. Like if it wasn´t bad enough to be the rich weirdo of the school (_again, thanks to Bruce). _

"I am your father and you HAVE to listen to me!" Bruce took Dick by the arm and made him stop and face him.

"You are a moron!" Dick shouted. "And you are not my father! Fathers don´t do what you do."

"Am I sorry?"

"This whole thing about being the perfect hero and the perfect son and the perfect student and the perfect person is driving me insane. Don´t you get it? Everything I have done through these 7 years has been according to your wishes, to your expectations!"

"Come on Richard, it is not true." Bruce rubbed his temple tired. "Don´t you think you are over reacting. It was just a party and you gained it, you ran out of the mansion without my permission."

Dick tightened his fist on his sides. "This is not about the party! This is not about you grounding me an hour before my party! It is about our whole relationships as son/father and hero/sidekick. It has never just about the party!"

Bruce stared at him confused and then turned around as he threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. Dick hated when he did that. He hated when Bruce acted like if this was only one thing more on his bucked list; _Deal with the over-hormonal teenager._

"Why do you still keep secrets from me?" asked Dick making Bruce turned around to see him. "Why do you still treat me like a kid?"

Bruce sighed. "Because you are still a kid. You are not ready to be on your own. I know it. I know you are not ready to become a defender of Gotham by your own."

Dick frowned. "What do you mean I am not ready? I was the first sidekick in the whole league and you had trained me for years! If I desired it, I would be able to go by my own and save this hell of a city!"

"You are not ready; you are still impulsive and over-emotional."

"And that is bad?" cried out Dick in disbelief.

"In this city, in this business; yes."

Suddenly it hit Dick.

"You are trying to make me be like you." He whispered. Bruce looked up to his guard and Dick knew he had nailed it. "You want me to be as cold and emotionless as you. Is that your definition of a good superhero? A robot with pulse?" Dick was walking in circles and over gesturing everything with his hands. He wanted Bruce to really listen to him this time. He wanted him to understand what he was doing wrong, but the man wouldn´t even look at him. "But the thing is that I don´t want to be like you!"

"You are acting like a child." Bruce turned around again and started heading towards the Cave.

"And you are acting like a monster!" Dick looked around and found something that would make Bruce react and finally pay attention to him. The cards that Bruce used to read some nights stood there, immobile on the table next to him. They had Rachel´s hand writing and Dick had never the chance to peek in any of it. With one quick movement he took the one that was on top and ran towards the fireplace. Bruce gasped surprised but he didn´t lose his composure for too long.

"Dick." He tried to keep calm but his voice gave away that he was near of getting furious. "Give that letter to me now!" Dick frowned and then looked at the letter and then to Bruce.

"I am never going to be you…" He could feel his heart beating too hard and too fast but he was trying to make a move. For once he wanted to make Bruce understood he didn´t want to be Batman´s perfect sidekick anymore. He needed him to understand that he wasn´t the same kid he had saved years ago. He was his own person and for now on he was going to follow his wishes and desires, no matter what Bruce thought about it.

"Richard put it down now!" Bruce took a step closer but Richard did the same in order to keep him distanced from the Batman.

"A real hero would never act the way you are acting…"

"A _real hero?" _Dick couldn´t believe what he was listening. He wasn´t a real hero? He was just some kind of cheap companion that followed Batman´s shadow like a lost puppy? "Like you?"

Bruce stood quiet as he gave Dick a Bat-glare.

"I would rather die before becoming a real hero like you!" He opened his hand and let the letter fall into the fire.

He was breathless for a moment. Bruce face was priceless, and not in the good way. His eyes were wide open and his face was as pale as a ghost´s. Maybe he had gone too far.

"Dick." He said in a whisper

Dick felt guilt and fear filling him up; Bruce gasped and then started walking towards him with his usual bat glare. Dick gulped and closed his eyes. When Bruce´s hand hit his face he didn´t count it would be so strong. He lost his balance and fell backwards. He heard Alfred gasp.

Richard opened his eyes and looked toward the fireplace where the card was only ashes and then his eyes landed on Bruce which was staring at him with empty eyes. Dick wanted to cry for the pain and the anger he was feeling but he managed to lock those feelings and keep with his neutral face. The atmosphere was so tense he felt like the time was frozen and a single movement or sound would break everything.

_Beep, beep, beep. _Mark´s ringtone was the thing that broke the whole balance of the bat-family. Bruce was too quick and before Richard could react he had his cell-phone between his hands. Richard couldn´t stand up or make any sound as he saw Bruce open the mobile and started reading the message. Dick would never knew what Mark wanted to tell him because the moment Bruce finished reading it he threw the mobile against a wall.

"Go to your room."

Dick shook his head slowly. It wasn´t that he didn´t want to go. It was that he couldn´t move. That was the first time Bruce hit him as a punishment and he didn´t knew how to react anymore.

"NOW!" the moment the screamed echoed through the whole mansion Dick stood up and ran upstairs as he cleaned some tears that were falling down his cheeks.

* * *

_**So here is the newest chapter and also the longest I have ever written. Please, send your reviews and opinions :D**_


	13. Jason Todd

**_Chapter 13: Jason Todd_**

**_Warnings: Mentions of drugs_**

* * *

Mark ran towards Dick as he screamed his name at the top of his lungs. Dick sighed and kept walking without looking back. He had a terrible weekend. After the fight he was grounded and unable to escape from the house with Alfred watching over him 24 hours a day. The Card had managed to steal 2 more banks. Bruce hadn´t speak a word to him at all and just the night before he had seen on the internet some photo´s of Mark hugging and kissing some random people between girls and boys.

"Where have you been the whole day?" asked Mark when he finally was able to stop the younger one. Dick looked away.

"Hiding from your sorry ass." he hissed between his teeth.

Mark blinked confused. "Sorry?"

Dick pushed the guy as hard as he could. "I saw the pictures." he felt hurt and betrayed even though he knew that Mark and him were nothing. Even after the kiss they hadn´t speak to each other and less he had asked him to be formal.

"I see." whispered Mark.

"That is all you have to say about the subject?!" shouted the younger one. "We kiss on Friday and on Saturday you go and kiss half of a dozen teenagers and that is all you have to say?"

Mark rubbed his temples in a tired way; just the same way Bruce had done nights before. "I never thought you would get it so personally." he said at last.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the kiss, I never thought you would…" he started but Dick cut him off.

"You know what, forget it! Let´s just pretend that it never happened and move on with our lives." said Dick almost too quickly.

He could feel some tears staring to appear on the corner of his eyes but he was able to swallow them. He had face rejection before but this time it felt even worse. This time he had some hopes he could have something with the senior student. He had thought his feelings were corresponded but… at the end he had been wrong again; just Wally all over again. He frowned at the thought of the ginger superhero. Why did he keel thinking about him and connecting him with Mark.

"Dick." sighed Mark but Dick didn´t let him finish again.

"I have to go. I am grounded and if I am not at the entrance when they come to pick me up I will be in more troubles."

He turned around and ran away from Mark. He couldn´t breathe and he was scared that if he stood one more seconds there he would end up breaking in front of Mark. He couldn´t do that. He had to keep the few pride he had left in him.

* * *

For being a Tuesday night, the line to enter to the club was irrationally long.

"I am not sure about this." whispered Wally as the rest of the team entered to a small club in the middle of the lowest region of Gotham. Everyone was wearing their civilian´s clothing, including Dick that was leading the group through the lobby.

Dick smirked as he listened to Wally´s words. Of course he was worried. He could bet his left arm that Kaldur was worried as well but he couldn´t care less. He had opened the envelope the night of the fight with Bruce. He had expected to find some kind of important information or something. Damn, when he opened it he had no idea what he was waiting to find but surely he wasn´t expecting to find a card with a name written in the back. _Jason Todd._

"Does Batman know we are here?" asked Megan to Kaldur.

"Do we know what we are doing here?" snapped Artemis as she crossed her arms up her chest and glared at the younger one.

"You can go the moment you feel like it. I am not putting a gun on your foreheads." Dick stopped in front of the start of a dark corridor where he could hear music coming from it. Of course inside the envelope he didn´t find anything else, but the envelope had turned out to be part of the deal. Written with invisible ink the villain had wrote a couple of instructions, an address and a date. That date was that night. "And you were the ones that almost begged to come."

"You are still underage and we weren´t going to let you come here without any protection." answered Kaldur as he took some steps closer towards Dick. The younger one chuckled.

"I can take care of myself." and with that he headed inside the club. After some seconds the rest of the team followed him.

The first indication was to go to the bar and order the special drink of the house. Dick took his money from his jacket and headed towards the nearest bar tender. The guy who was serving the drinks was small but seemed pretty strong. He was about Wally´s height but Dick could see that he was on his late twenties.

"What can I get you?" asked the bartender as he leaned over the bar so he was just inches away from Dick´s face. The rest of the team was looking at him not sure what to do or how to act. Wally reached for Artemis hand and squeezed it. Kaldur turned towards Zantana and Megan that were hugging Connor´s arms like if their life depended on it. He turned to see Dick again and tried to think what the hell they were doing in that place.

"You special drink of the night." he said trying to sound cool and uncaring. After all he had no identification and it would be really embarrassing to be kick out of a club so full of people. The bar tender sighed and turned to guard that was standing next to the exit door. He whistled and the guard disappeared from behind a curtain that decorated the wall. Dick sighed and waited for the second instruction. He was supposed to go to the dance floor and wait in the middle of it until someone approached him and gave him something.

"Hey there." a guy approached Dick from his right and put an arm over his shoulders. "Sorry to ask but, have I seen you somewhere else before?"

Dick smiled at the lame attempt of flirting.

"Yes, that´s why I don´t go there anymore." he answered back as he gave the guy a sarcastic smile.

"So it was the right thing to come here tonight?" the guy leaned over the bar and smiled at Dick. He was almost a head taller than Dick and had black and straight hair. Dick saw how the bartender left his drink and took a sip of it. He thought about the possibilities of him being the villain and was just playing with him. It wouldn´t surprise him. One, he was the Joker´s apprentice and two, it seemed that The Card enjoyed playing games; first threatening of hurting him and then acting like if they were intimate friends.

"So, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

Dick laughed out loud this time.

"Did it hurt when you were kicked out of hell?"

The guy took the drink from between Dick´s hand and drank half of it.

"What makes you think I am a demon?" he asked. Dick raised his shoulders. He analyzed the guy with more detail. He wasn´t the Card. This guy was too young, he might have been younger than Dick and it was obvious the Card was older than 17 years old.

"What makes you think I am an angel?" he teased.

Suddenly he felt a strong arm surround his waist and he was pulled against a strong something strong. He turned around just to find a pair of green eyes staring at the guy.

"It´s pretty clear he is not interested." snapped Wally as he pulled Dick away from the bar and the guy.

"What the hell was that?" asked Dick between laughs.

"What do you mean?" said Wally as he kept pulling Dick by the arm.

"This whole act of the jealous boyfriend."

Wally stopped and turned to see Dick. "Would you rather go back? I thought you had a boyfriend."

Dick sighed. "Mark isn´t my boyfriend. He made it pretty clear." he hissed as he looked away. He could feel all his friends´ stares on him and he could imagine their thoughts in that moment. They were probably feeling pity for him or maybe they were glad about it. He turned to Wally and noticed a slight smile on his face; at least he was happy about it.

"So what do we do now?" asked Kaldur.

Dick was about to open his mouth when he felt his left arm being pulled backwards. He turned around ready to punch if it was necessary but the only thing he found was the smiling guy he had met just moments before.

"Sorry to interrupt but…" he took Dick´s hand and put a small bag full of pills on it. "A guy at the bar told me to give you this."

Dick inspected the pills. "He told me they are ecstasies but I warn you, don´t use them."

Kaldur, Wally, Zantana and Artemis opened their eyes widely. Kaldur was about to take the pills from Dick´s hand but the younger one was faster and put them inside his jacket. "Why is that?"

"I know this kind of places and I can tell you, those things have more rat poison than anything else. And also this is the Joker´s area."

Dick frowned confused.

"Do you mean Gotham is divided in villain´s areas?" asked Kaldur skeptical.

The boy shook his head. "It´s more complicated than that. When I refer to areas I talk to the places where the prostitution and what kinds of drugs are sold. For example, this is Joker´s drugs area but the rest of the corruption; sales of guns and people, murders, robbery, and the prostitution are under the hands of the penguin." The team nodded as they followed. "When you get used to Gotham you learn where to mess around, where to buy the safe drugs and alcohol and mostly…" he turned towards Dick and gave him a fake smile. "who you are able to trust."

That was something he had never thought about and he wondered if Bruce knew about this whole "_areas" _thing between the most wanted villains of the city. Dick took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly. The Card wanted him to know all this information, the problem was that he wasn´t sure if it was a trap or something more complicated and more dangerous.

"How do you know all this stuff?" asked Megan as she took some steps over the guy.

"I have lived all my life in this kind of environment. Living in the streets is a good way of overhearing all kinds of things."

Dick bit his lip and looked at the guy. He wasn´t sure what to say anymore. "Thank you." he whispered. The guy took Dick´s hand again and a pen from his jacket.

"I know that the carrot head isn´t your boyfriend." he stated as he started writing a number in Dick´s palm. "So give me a call whenever you want or you are hanging out around here."

Dick stared at the number and then at the name. He felt his heart skipping a beat. _Jason Todd. _He looked up and found that the boy was already mixing himself with the crowd of people on the dance floor. He sighed as he repeated that name in his head and the face of the guy in his mind all over again.

_Jason Todd…_

_Jason Todd…_

_Jason Todd…_

* * *

_**Please, send your reviews and opinions :D**_


	14. Dicks Journal

**_Chapter 14: Dick´s Journal_**

* * *

Robin jumped into the theater with the exact idea of from who was that unknown text he had received that night before. He landed in the middle of the stage and, even though the theater was old and unused, the main light was on illuminating the whole scenario. Robin half-closed his eyes and put hand in front of his face to protect him from the bright light.

"I know you are here, you freak!" he screamed to no one in particular. He knew the villain was already waiting for him and it annoyed him not to know where he was.

It was already Thursday night and his week couldn´t have gone worse. First he had that fight with Bruce and then with Mark. Okay, he was still kind of hurt by the pictures but maybe he had over reacted and he had ruined the only normal friendship he had. They hadn´t spoken since Monday and it was driving Dick insane.

Besides that, Jason had called him last night asking for them to hang out on Saturday. Robin hadn´t answered him yet but he was double thinking about saying yes.

"Is baby bird in a bad mood tonight?" Robin could hear the Card´s voice around the room but he couldn´t find the exact source. He sighed.

"You could say that. So I have no time and patience for stupid games tonight!" he screamed.

He heard a couple of giggles and he felt some chills running down his spine. That laugher had come from behind him. A pair of hands took him by his arms and made him turn around. Robin jumped back and by reflects he took a batrag from him utility belt.

"Did I scare you little bird?" hissed the Card. Slowly he took some steps back and clapped his hands a couple of times. The main light went off and the rest of the lights went on making visible the rest of the building.

"Not a bit freak."

The Card touched his chest and acted like if he felt hurt. "And you keep insulting me. What harm have I done to you?"

Robin crossed his arms up his chest. "You lied to me."

The card shook his head softly. "I have never done such a thing."

"You told me that all I needed to know was in that letter you gave me. But when I opened, you could guess my surprise to find only one name and an address."

"I gave you all you needed to know at that moment."

"That wasn´t the deal."

"So, are you calling me a lair?" asked The Card with his usual mocking voice.

"I am not calling you a truer." answered back the boy wonder as he leaned over the piano that stood behind him. "Was all that crap about Jason and the drugs?"

The Card raised his shoulders as he chuckled softly. "Again, you are not asking the right questions." and then he disappeared.

Robin, not able to control himself, kicked the first thing that he saw and screamed in rage. What the hell was he doing? He was talking to the enemy. He was disobeying Batman! He was betraying the whole league in that matter!

"What do I do now?" he sighed. "What do I do now?"

000

JOURNAL ENTRIES; DICK GRAYSON

_November 26, 2015_

_It has been exactly 15 days since my birthday party disaster. I haven´t spoken to Bruce and he hasn´t tried to talk to me neither. I haven´t gone patrolling with him even though I still go out one night or another to check Gotham by myself. I am spending this weekend at Young Justice Mountain even though I am in the middle of a plan to escape from Kaldur and go to see Jason. _

_November 31, 2015_

_Mark and I are okay again so far. We agreed that we would still be friends but I have to admit we have kissed during these few days (lots of times). Bruce is not as mad at me like before. I see him different and that scares me, what is he still hiding from me?_

_December 3, 2015_

_I haven´t heard from the card in almost 2 weeks and I am growing worried. The Joker is already in Arkaham but there is no sign of the Card. Bruce says maybe he is gone but I don´t think so. _

Dick heard some screaming out of his bedroom in Mount Justice and peeked out see what was going on. On the corridor Artemis and Wally were screaming at each other. Wally was asking her about some dude he had seen with her a couple days ago. Artemis shouted back accusing him from being crazy and over jealous. The rest of the team was staring at the two fighting.

"You know what, I can´t deal with this!" shouted Wally as he threw his hands to the air and started walking away. Artemis made no signs to stop him.

"You are such an immature dork!" she shouted at him. Wally turned back.

"Better than a cheater slut!"

Dick covered his mouth to hide a huge smile appearing in his face. The archer groaned and the ginger mimicked her. After that the discussion was done and it was pretty clear the young couple was broken. Dick returned to his room and closed the door behind his back still with a stupid smile on his face.

_Last second update: Wally is single again. _

_December 13, 2015_

_I had a new fight with Bruce and for some reason I also fought with Wally. I don´t know what happened or why did I snapped. I don´t care either. I had my reasons even though Wally didn´t seemed to care. _

The young hero sat on the corner of the mansion and let the blood run down his hands until it met the floor. He sighed and tried to stop sobbing. His journal entry was half covered with his blood and so some other pages. He didn´t care in that moment. All he cared was what Wally had told the team earlier. They were at the practice room and Dick had gone for a moment to his room to get his utility belt. When he came back Wally was talking to Kaldur and Conner about some new student in his school. He told them the kid was openly gay and he wasn´t afraid to show the world his gayness.

_He is such a freak. _

Dick leaned over the door and half closed his eyes behind the domino mask.

_I think he has a crush on me. How sick. _

The younger one hugged himself as he slipped down to a sitting position. He had never asked Wally how he felt about him being gay. After the party nobody had mentioned anything about Mark and Dick had no need to say anything either. But now that he was listening to Wally, he felt partly betrayed.

_I have no problem with fagots but I prefer them away from me. _

Did Wally really hate him? Did he not want him around? Dick bit his lip and stepped out of his hiding place. Without saying anything he punched his best friend straight into the face.

_What the fuck is wrong with you?_

Dick, sitting alone inside his dark room, could still hear Wally´s voice screaming at him as he cleaned the blood coming out of his broken noise.

He had been a coward. He had run to the mansion. He had entered to the cave sobbing with the stupid hope he could find support in Bruce. The cave was alone. There was no Alfred or Bruce, just Batman, with his usual annoyed grin staring at him.

With his hand he had cleaned a tear away from Dick´s eyes and sighed.

"Did you already fuck everything up?" he had asked plainly, without any emotion.

Now, he had about 20 cuts on his left wrist and arm. He could feel the pain of the deepest ones but it wasn´t enough. He would never have enough pain to let go all the demons that haunted his troubled mind.

_December 14, 2015 (1:00am)_

_Did I really fucked everything up?_

* * *

_So, this is short and maybe lame, but I have a horrible autho´r block so, sorry. But I hope you liked it and please, don´t forget to review. _


	15. Wonderland (part 1)

**_Chapter 15: Wonderland (Part 1)_**

* * *

"I can see forever in your eyes." sighed Jason as he stared at me with puppy eyes. Dick chuckled.

"Well, all I can see it´s never in yours." answered back the older one and then he showed his tongue to Jason in a playful way. Jason sat up and then rested his chin on Dick´s chest.

"Why do you always ruin my pick up lines?" asked Jason as he made a pout.

"Maybe because they suck."

"Okay, hear this one. Hey babe, what is your sign?" Dick thought about it for a moment.

"It´s stop!"

"That doesn´t even make any sense!" complained Jason as he hit Dick on the shoulder. Dick laughed.

"So your line, who are you trying to get laid with? A thirteen year old girl?"

Jason sighed and laid his head on Dick´s chest. Dick messed up the younger's hair and stared at his brown eyes. He looked so damn young it was surprising the amount of information he knew about crimes around Gotham and the way he managed to survive on daily basis living around it. Jason looked up to Dick and also smiled at him. Since the day they had met on the club they had decided to spend some time together. At first, the excuse for those meetings was to get more information about the villains´ moves around the poorest zone of Gotham. After a couple of meetings things between Dick and Jason started changing in more of a friendship relation rather than a work one. Both of them had enjoyed the change in the roles.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Jason as he copied Dick frown.

The raven sat up and arranged his sunglasses over his blue eyes. Okay, he enjoyed sharing time with Jason, mostly because it was his only male friend now if you noticed that Wally practically hated him and Mark…Mark was complicated. But there was something bothered Dick every time he repeated his new friend´s name; _Jason Todd. _He knew this kid had something to do with The Card, but he still couldn´t get how.

"Just over thinking everything again."

Unconsciously he passed his fingers under his left sleeves and touched the bandage over his wrists. He had started cutting every night since Wally stopped talking to him after Dick had abruptly came and hit him straight on the nose. Dick sighed and squeezed his wrist between his fingers causing an acid pain to appear on the cuts.

"You look sad." Jason pointed out.

Dick shock his head to hard. "I am tired, that is all."

"Problems at home?" the boy sat behind Dick and put his hands around his neck. The older one faked a giggle.

"Nothing I can´t solve myself." he turned and gave Jason a soft smile receiving in exchange and kiss behind the neck. That damned demon was a flirt! "But thanks for worrying. Lately I feel you are the only one."

Jason rested his forehead on Dick´s shoulder and opened his mouth to say something. Dick wasn´t looking at him anymore which for the younger one was a blessing, he wouldn´t have been able to stand those hidden eyes.

"Dick, you know you are my best friend." Dick just nodded. "So I want to tell you something I haven´t told anyone…"

Before he could even continue a beep broke the silent environment making Dick jump to his feet. Jason saw how the older one took his cell-phone out and answered it before even reading who was it. His face completely changed within seconds and so his voice. It went from soft and timid to something close to angry.

"I´m on my way." he answered before hanging up and then turned towards Jason. "Sorry, a thing came up and I have to leave now."

Jason stood up too.

"Sure, no problem." he put his hands on his pocket and looked away. "About the thing I wanted to tell you…"

Dick cut him off again.

"The next time we meet you can tell me." he said before start running down the park to the parking lot.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-..-.-.-.-.-.

Gotham city at night.

Robin had a love/hate relationship with Gotham in so late hours. He liked the freedom the city gave him to ride on his motorcycle, to jump from building to building and to hide in the shadows of it´s corners. He hated the fact that he knew that could be his grave in a second of miscalculation. He hated it because he knew innocent people where manipulated and tormented by not so innocent men and women.

"_Robin I want you to go the southern dumpster to see if you can find out anything about the Riddle´s new plan." _ordered the bat through the communicator. Robin frowned behind the mask. He knew what Batman had in his mind. He wanted him to still do the safe work, the annoying paper work, as he would call it.

"I am on my…"he was about to answer but suddenly the communication was cut. Robin put his hand on the side of his helmet and double checked if something was broken; no. "Batman?"

"Hello little bird." a soft voice called him out from the communicator. Robin knew that voice too well.

"Get loss freak. Tonight is not about you."

"So you are behind another villain. I feel betrayed." Robin rolled his eyes, he wasn´t in the mood to handle the Card.

"Not everything around me is about you." he teased back. "Now let me speak to Batman."

"Or what? Daddy-Bat will get mad?"

Robin couldn´t admit it but yes, Batman would go mad if he lost another minute of valuable communication.

"What do you want so I can get rid of you?"

Robin heard some static before receiving the answer. The Card was moving now. Dick pressed the acceleration on his motorcycle and tried to focus on not crashing it. He was near the dumpster so he had to start to plan how to get the information about the new drug the Riddle was creating. So far Batman and he knew that it made people confused and caused loss of memory, something hilarious for a guy that loved to trick people´s mind.

"I want to tell you a riddle."

Robin stopped in the middle of the street almost causing a traffic accident.

"How is the Red Queen like a Typhoon? They are both the same, but the typhoon doesn't mean to be."

Robin shook his head. What?

"What does the Joker gives you to eat?" he asked out loud making the card laugh.

"It´s nothing of your business, but just because I really like your attitude tonight I will give you two clues. The first one is; not everything is what it seems." Robin took off his helmet and watched the cars go pass him. The light that came from them hurt his eyes but Robin knew there was something hidden behind him between those cars. He wasn´t sure how he could know that, or if he could even knew that, but he could feel it. "And the second one is…it used to be Wally´s favorite video game."

A black shadow appeared through all those lights and then something hit the boy straight in the chest making him fall with his motorcycle. He cried in pain as his head hit the cold pavement and when the vehicle fell on his leg he couldn´t help to scream a curse. He heard the Card laugh out loud. A car passed next to him almost hitting his face.

"_Robin!" _the boy heard Batman´s voice chocked the Card´s laughter. "_What happened?" _

Robin couldn´t stand up and the cars kept basin next to him threatening to hit him in any minute.

"_Robin!" _Batman called him out. He tried to kick the motorcycle away but it was too heavy. His left foot was going numb. "_Dick!" _

Robin was able to look up for an instant.

"Alice: The Madness returns." he whispered as he spotted a red car just in front of him.

"_Robin." _

_"_The mad hatter."

After he whispered those three last words his vision became blurry because of the bright light of the car. He closed his eyes, a pain invaded his whole body.

Then nothing.

* * *

_I am going to cut this chapter in 3 pieces becuase I think that writting a really long chapter makes it lose a little bit the thriller (call me crazy) Still I will update as soon as I can, I expect to update on Sunday. Please, send your reviews beautiful people :3_


	16. Wonderland (part 2)

**_Chapter 15: Wonderland (Part II)_**

* * *

_Chapter 16 Wonderland Part II_

Bruce POV

His pulse was steady. His eyes were closed in a dreamless sleep. I couldn´t help to brush his black hair off his face and stared at his broken lip and bruised cheek. We lost communication one minute. Not more or less, one exact minute. Now he was laying there, unconscious with a machine helping him breathe through those broken ribs. Jhon told me he was going to be fine, that his niece would help him heal faster.

"I have to go." I said to the league as I received a message from the manor.

Superman stared at me blankly. "What about Robin?"

I knew what was going through his mind but I couldn´t care less what the rest of the league thought right now. They didn´t understand how things worked in Gotham or with Richard. They would never be able to understand.

"If something changes let me know immediately."

Nobody added anything.

Gotham passed around me but I could barely distinguish something other than neon lights and shadows of faceless people.

In the message it said the Card had sent me a warning. He had caused Richard´s accident but the message was pretty clear. My sidekick wasn´t the main target but he was using him to get to me.

"_Batman, Batman." _I heard a voice coming out from my communicator. _"Where are you_?" the psycho was singing a kid´s lullaby? What was wrong with him? "_Where are you_?" I saw a shadow pass just in front of me. I instantly recognized the coat he was wearing and the A´s card that was printed on the back of his motorcycle. "_Do I really scare you? Do I really scare you?_" I turned and followed the villain. "_Ding dong Dang." _The motorcycle entered to a closed alley. Batman half-smiled pleased. "_Ding dong Dang." _

I ran out of the car and stared at the young villain. He was staring me with a mocking smile. A van appeared behind me leaving my car trapped. I groaned angrily realizing I had just fallen into the trap.

"Batman, what a pleasure to see you again." he said as he leaned over a brick wall. "But still, I am sad the little bird wasn´t able to join us."

"You know better than anyone the cause of his absence."

The Card laughed madly. "I know, you should have seen his face when the car was about to approach him. It looked marvelously vulnerable and scared."

I tried my best to keep calm and cool.

"But you must have wondered why was here in the middle of the street instead of at the dumpster where you had ordered him to be, didn´t you?"

"What do you want Card? I have been studying your modus operant; you are not like the Joker so it means you are searching for something else."

The card made a face showing fake confusion. He arranged his purple coat and stared at me with his enormous almost black eyes. The mask on his left side was completely white, there was no sign of dirt but as well it gave the young adult a sense of inhumanity. I guessed that´s the way the rest of the villains saw me; someone almost inhuman.

"You have the letter. There it says everything." he explained almost annoyed.

"That thing is a bunch of nonsense, coming from the twisted mind of a mad man."

The Card jumped and hit the floor with his feet showing his anger. That anger was genuine.

"I am not mad!" he shouted at me. "And it´s not nonsense. I am here for revenge."

I stared at him blankly making his anger grow.

"You ruined everything for me! Five years ago you destroyed my family! You destroyed me!"

I didn´t answered.

"And I am here to return you the favor."

I couldn´t stop myself this time. "How?" I could have asked him how I had hurt him so badly. I could have knocked him out with a punch. I could have done so many things but instead, I asked how he was planning to hurt me.

"In the letter I remember specifying it, Batman." he hissed.

I lowered my gaze and tried to see remember each word and it´s possible meanings. But the letter was just a riddle; a long and confusing riddle with no possible answer.

"Stupid head." the Card made fun of me. Surprisingly the anger was gone and a smile reappeared again in those red and thin lips. "You are as blind as a bat."

I looked at him and saw how he was already over the wall that closed the alley.

"Only because I am a nice guy tonight I will give you a clue." he thought about it for some seconds. "No, I will give you two. Just in case you are so blind the first one comes unseen by you."

I put my right hand on my utility belt and tried to find the rope. The compartment was empty.

"One, pay attention to your birdy boy." The card was playing with my rope as he kept talking. "Every gesture, every word, every movement your sidekick makes is just a step closer to my vengeance."

I opened my eyes widely and tried to think, what had Robin something to do with the villain. I had made sure to keep them separate, never let them meet again.

"And the second but the most important is…" The hard took the other hald of his mask from inside of his coat. It was the exact same thing, but this one had a heart printed on where the eye would be. "Robin didn´t went to the dumpster tonight because I told him you were wrong; which indeed you were."

I made my hands into fists.

"He was going to turn back and disobey your orders, just because I told him so."

* * *

_Mad hatter_

_Alice, the madness returns_

_Wally´s favorite videogame_

Dick tried to open his eyes but it was too hard. He felt so tired and his body seemed still asleep. He took a deep breath and let himself cuddle between those warms covers.

_The Card knows about Wally_

The boy tried to pull his hands and cover his face with the blankets but even breathe was hard now. He analyzed the situation. His body now felt numb which meant he was under medication; in other words, he was going to be in a lot of pain in a couple of hours.

_The Card knows Wally´s secret identity. _

This time he succeeded to open his eyes. The first thing he was the white celling and its bright white lights. The second thing he was Wally´s face.

_Fuck_

Dick tried to stand up but an agonizing pain hit him on the side making him fall back into the bed. Wally jumped from the seat where he was resting and put a hand on Dick´s forehead. His touch was warm.

"Easy there birdie." he said half-joking.

Dick sighed and closed his eyes again. "Am I at the Mountain?" he asked worried. He had feared he would have ended up concealed at the Manor with only Bruce and Alfred to give him the talk about being careful.

"Yeah, Batman brought you here as soon as he got you." Wally sat on the edge of the bed as his hand kept massaging Dick´s forehead. "You had a nasty accident though."

"I don't remember much." Dick wondered if that wasn´t such a bad thing after all.

"You broke several ribs and you got pretty nasty bruises and cuts." Wally´s touch disappeared leaving Dick feeling cold and alone again. His blue eyes stared at Wally who was looking around the room rather uncomfortably. "But at least you give a reason to Mega to practice some _alien _medicine."

Dick could hear under that goofy and silly voice which constantly was fake and overacted. He knew Wally was there for another reason than concern about his physical state.

"Wally?" he asked as his mind tried to think of a good way to ask his friend what was wrong.

"I am sorry Dick!" he suddenly burst out. Dick frowned at him confused. Dick had been the one who broke his nose in first place. Why the hell was Wally even apologizing? "Okay, I was at first angry at you for hitting me in that way and it was just because I didn´t realized at the moment that I had caused it. Maybe not in purpose but I still did and I am truly sorry. I wanted to tell you before but you know I am a proud creature and…"

"Wally!" Dick shouted making the older one stop babbling. "I beg you, stop talking so fast."

Wally´s face didn´t changed. It still looked worried and in pain.

"What I said about that guy at my school was awful. I was talking without thinking."

"Which it is not weird in you." Dick teased him gaining a soft smile.

"Dick." Wally put his hands on Dick´s arms and started making patterns on it. "What I said, affected you, didn´t it?"

The younger one lowered his gaze. Of course he had felt hurt. He had felt betrayed and angry and confused and…

_I even cut that night because of you, Kidmouth. _

"How long have you been doing it?"

Dick closed his eyes and put his hand on his wrist, aware he had been busted.

"Does Bruce knows?" he asked almost in a whisper.

Wally shook his head. "No, but…"

"Who knows?" he asked too quickly, too desperate.

"Just Megan and me." he said. "Now answer me. How long?"

Dick ran his fingers through his hair. "I don´t remember."

"Liar."

Dick groaned.

"Well you will have to live with it because that´s all I am going to talk about the topic."

"Does it has something to do with Mark?"

"What on earth would you put this" he said pointing at his cuts. "with Mark?!"

Wally bit his lip and looked away. This wasn´t going the way he had planned. "It was not my intention. I am just worried."

Dick felt Wally touch his bruised cheek and suddenly their faces where close, too close.

"I just want things to go back to what they used to be."

Dick felt his lip start shaking in anticipation. No matter how times his lips were sealed with Mark´s, he knew that all he wanted to kiss was Wally´s. He had to swallow the impulse to jump forward and kiss his friend straight to the lips.

"I want to be your best-friend again."

Wally´s fingers caressed Dick´s cheek and then moved towards his forehead.

"Well, I have to say that´s impossible." he mumbled as he tried to suppress the smile that was starting to appear on his lips. Wally´s face was priceless.

"WHAT?!" he shouted. "After I apologized and tell you I was wrong, which you know is hell for someone like me, you are denying…"

Dick cut him off by putting his hand on the red head lips. "How could we start over again when you never stopped being my best-buddy?"

Wally´s smile became wider. "You are a mean dude!"

Dick tried to laugh but the second he did a pain on his chest made him stop and groan instead.

"And I forgot." started Wally as he scratched his neck. "Megan said no laughing during a week."

Dick glared at him. "And she left me with the most serious guy on earth." he said sarcastic.

"She left you with your best friend to take care of you instead of Conner, the grumpy clone."

Dick had to pull all his straight not to laugh.

* * *

_So not everything is what it seems and it will get even messier as the story continues. Hope you liked it and please, send your reviews beautiful people :3_


End file.
